Nanoha Takamachi and the School of Witchcraft
by Ryvaken Lucius Tadrya
Summary: Behold the result of writer's block when trying to write a good story. A few months after retiring home to England, former TSAB Admiral Graham finds himself attacked by men with pointy sticks and strange magic. He calls in help and sets Nanoha and Fate on a wild ride through the British Wizarding World.
1. Assignment Near and Far

This horrible idea just struck me one day. I wanted to write something Nanoha-heavy and this idea wormed into my brain and _roosted_. So welcome to the depravity of my imagination.

Needless to say, certain chronologies need to be finagled so they match up properly. This was obviously a delicate task requiring tact and subtlety, so I gave the job to Vita. Anyone who has a problem with how the dates match up can take their complaints to her.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and the School of Witches

Chapter 1: Assignment Near and Far

_My name is Nanoha Takamachi, and I used to be an ordinary kid. Then, about a year ago, I met a talking ferret and got these magical powers. I've made a lot of really good friends since then and helped a lot of people. They're all a little distant right now, but nothing ever keeps us apart for long._

Nanoha smiled at the little red jewel on the park bench. "Ready?"

"Ready, my master," the mechanical voice reported.

Nanoha smiled and gently tossed an empty can into the air. She then held her hand out straight, palm up. "Lyrical," she whispered under her breath, focusing. She felt the pink circle form under her feet and ran through the mathematical equations that described a single, highly agile sphere of energy the approximate size of a golf ball. Dispensing with an incantation, a pink ball appeared in her palm and drifted to her finger. She pointed up at the sky. "Divine Shooter! SHOOT!"

The magic bullet launched from her finger and impacted the can, sending it spinning and arresting its downward fall for a few seconds. "Control," Nanoha muttered. "Accel." The bullet blurred and traced a path around the can, hitting it several times a second and going higher all the time.

"Twenty seven," Raising Heart counted. "Thirty four. Fourty."

Nanoha's other hand came up. "SHOOT!" The cry ripped from her throat and a second bullet rocketed skywards.

"Fifty six. Sixty eight. Eighty four."

Nanoha's face became a grimace of concentration and a little pain. No help from Raising Heart. No cartridges. The multiple perspectives taxed her focus. She couldn't let the bullets hit. She couldn't hit the can with the same bullet twice in a row. And she had to do it as quickly as she could.

"One hundred ten. One hundred twenty five. One hundred forty."

She couldn't hit the can too hard. Denting it would be bad. Faster. Softer.

"One hundred eighty six. Two hundred."

Nanoha nearly collapsed and took a breath. "Final set!" she called. One arm swung down wide while she snapped the other to her side. Far above, the bullets mimicked the move. One started a loop, the other impacted the can and discharged, rocketing it _straight down_.

Nanoha's eyes were still closed and she saw the constants and variables in play. Mass, energy, gravity, acceleration, air density, cross winds…it was more than she could handle. That was why she had Raising Heart. On her own, her human mind needed shortcuts. Approximations. Intuition. Reasoning. A bit faster.

The can had just dropped to shoulder level when the remaining bullet rammed it. The discharge sent it flying to bounce against the rim of a trashcan, teeter on the edge, and fall in.

Nanoha smiled brightly and giggled.

* * *

Momoko Takamachi was many things. Mother of three, baker in a café, drop dead gorgeous, it was all true. What few people realized was that she was among the most knowledgeable women in Japan when it came to magic. When Nanoha came home, she smiled at her youngest daughter. "Hello, Nanoha, Raising Heart. How did training go today?"

"Ninety seven points," Raising Heart answered for Nanoha.

Momoko's smile broadened. "That's great, honey. Why don't you wash up for supper?"

"Okay, mom," Nanoha chirped.

Watching Nanoha head for the furo for a moment, Momoko shook her head slightly. Raising Heart was nearly family these days, but that didn't make it less weird. The little gem was an incredibly powerful weapon, a high powered computer, a tactical database, and God only knew what else all controlled by an AI that routinely risked her existence to protect her little girl. And for all that, Nanoha treated the gem like a close friend when she spoke to her, which was fairly frequently these days.

It was probably a good thing, Momoko considered with a sigh. Arisa and Suzuka didn't come by as often as they had before Christmas…was it really seven months ago? Yeah, July 24th. Seven months ago to the day that the kids had seen Fate and Nanoha in their barrier jackets, casting spells and saving lives. Theirs, specifically. At first nothing had changed, but Nanoha…magic was a part of her life now. It had swelled up and swallowed her future. Her dreams were…well it was a lot harder to relate to Nanoha than it used to be. Not that the girls would ever say it. Nanoha befriended people for life. But they weren't really close anymore.

Fate, naturally, was a complete one-eighty on that. The girl was very obviously Nanoha's most important person. Over the past week, she'd been on a deployment as part of her part-time Mage job. Nanoha was always a little more down when Fate was on duty without her, but the Bureau wasn't always able to sync their schedules.

Hayate and the Wolkenritter were also common guests when they were in town, but their community service had them on Mid-Childa most of the time. Momoko had to confess, she was fine with that. Signum was scary.

Yuuno, Chrono, Amy, and the rest of Nanoha's magical friends all had full time jobs. Letters were about as much as they ever got from them.

Nanoha came back down a bit later for dinner. Raising Heart floated at her side, a luxury the device indulged in now that the secrecy was over. Conversation at the Takamachi table was light and easy, with the little red gem floating around over their heads comfortably ignored by all. At least until it blinked furiously. "Master!"

Everyone startled at the sudden exclamation but only Nanoha answered. "Yeah, Raising Heart?" she asked, suddenly all business. "What is it?"

"Incoming transmission, coded urgent."

Nanoha shot an apologetic look to her family as she got up and left the table. "Sorry but this could be really important," she apologized. Said family got up and followed at a polite distance – they were done being in the dark.

A screen appeared in the air in front of Nanoha, carrying the picture of an old, European, bearded man on profile. It looked like he was on a street somewhere, and magical light shot by his head. He spared a glance at the screen on his end and sighed in relief. "Miss Takamachi, I'm glad I got through," he said in an English accent.

"Admiral Graham?" Nanoha asked in clear surprise.

"Former admiral," he replied tersely. "No time for pleasantries, Miss Takamachi. I'm under attack by unknown mages and am requesting immediate assistance from the TSAB. As you're the only mage on the planet I'm aware of…"

"Send Raising Heart the coordinates," Nanoha said calmly.

Her family winced. The cool professionalism in her voice didn't belong to any ten year old. They'd all heard Fate joke about Nanoha's new nickname, the White Devil, but they'd never seen just how much the girl's responsible nature had adapted to such a dangerous profession.

"Of course," Graham said, producing a shield to deflect another bit of unfamiliar magic, a blue bolt that hit a wall and caused a number of bricks to shatter. "Sending now. They'll drop you off in the skies above London, not far from the King's Cross railway station."

"Coordinates received," Raising Heart announced.

"I'll transfer there immediately," Nanoha promised. "Try to hold out for now."

The connection closed and Nanoha reached up to grab Raising Heart. She glanced at her family and smiled sadly. "I…"

"You have to go," Shiro said. He smiled. "Been there."

Nanoha nodded. Her father _had_ been there, although it was well before she had been born. "I promise I'll be back really soon, and I'll call as soon as I'm safe, okay?" She looked at Raising Heart. "Raising Heart, please."

"Standby ready. Set up. Barrier Jacket."

The Takamachi family took in the sight of their youngest member in an armored, stylized school uniform with the short, ornate staff. "Will you be able to get there on time?" Miyuki asked.

Nanoha smiled uncertainly. "I've only cast the spell myself a few times…but I have to try. Raising Heart?"

"It can be done. Long Range Teleport." The Midchildan circle appeared around Nanoha's feet.

She offered one last smile to her family. "Execute transmission," she said softly, and vanished.

* * *

"Axel Fin."

Nanoha pinwheeled her arms briefly to regain her balance as pink wings sprouted from her feet. "Whoa…did we make it?"

"Yes, my master."

Nanoha looked down and saw a strange city. "That must be London…there!" She pointed at a flash. "Raising Heart, what was that?"

"Magical discharge confirmed."

Nanoha spun in the air and powered down through the sky. Sure enough, Graham was under attack by three men in…robes? The simple garments didn't look like barrier jackets, but that hardly meant anything. Nanoha took in the situation for a long moment.

She'd asked Chrono about what happened to Graham after he retired home to England. It turned out that Graham didn't have his own intelligent device like Nanoha; he had always used standard issue storage devices. With his retirement those devices were of course returned to the TSAB. And apparently, he had decided not to purchase a civilian grade device. He was crouched behind some cover in an alley, pinned down by enemy fire. Every once in a while a Mid circle would appear and deflect a spell from hitting. Nanoha had to be impressed. Holding off three mages without a device was no easy trick. Nanoha wondered for a moment where the Liese twins were, but that wasn't her concern just yet.

The three strange mages were not Mid style or Belkan, that Nanoha was sure of. There were no weapons in sight, no magic circles. Their devices seemed to be thin sticks and they were making no attempt to close in on Graham. Their reliance on ranged attacks was odd, considering their horrible aim. Nanoha smiled wryly; she knew a few TSAB divisions with similarly atrocious accuracy so maybe she shouldn't judge them too harshly.

"Let's shoot it," Raising Heart said. "Axel Shooter."

Nanoha ran through the tactical situation. Three mages oblivious to her arrival attacking one unarmed ally…"No," she decided. "Protection, ready."

"Stand by," Raising Heart said. "Ready." Nanoha nodded and resumed her descent.

The opposing mages were shocked when Nanoha entered the fray, landing in front of Graham with Raising Heart pointed at them. She created a dome of pink energy, an umbrella to hide behind. "I am Nanoha Takamachi, part time mage of the Time-Space Administration. Why are you assaulting this man?"

The three mages stopped shooting and looked at eachother, then back at the girl. "What? Who are you?"

Nanoha blinked. "Oh, right. English." At least she'd been able to push her bilingual grades up a little…she repeated her introduction in the appropriate language and spared a glance at Graham. "Are you okay, sir?"

Graham got up slowly, wincing. He wasn't as young as he used to be, after all. "I'm fine, Ms. Takamachi. Thank you."

"You're interfering in Ministry business," one of the mages said warningly. "And are in violation of the Restrictions on Underage Sorcery, the International Statute of Secrecy, and a few other charges. Stand down."

Nanoha frowned. "Why are you attacking this man?" she asked again. She didn't have any authority on Earth, an unadministered world, but she did have leeway as Graham had requested her protection.

"We need to Obliviate the muggle," one of the mages said. "His cat attacked an owl carrying a Hogwarts letter."

Nanoha blinked and looked to Graham. "Do you know what that means?"

"Not a clue," Graham said. "Lotte did stalk an owl, but almost as soon as she got her teeth on the bird these mages showed up and tried to cast some kind of spell on me." He scowled. "They drove me away from Lotte, too. If she's hurt…"

Nanoha glared at the mages at this and hefted Raising Heart meaningfully. "His cat is Stunned," one of the mages said dismissively. "Once we modify his memory and clean up the evidence he can get back to…whatever it is muggles do."

This wasn't the right answer. "You want to do what to him?" Nanoha asked, shocked. "And what is a muggle?"

"Non-magic folk," the mage said reasonably. "What do they call them in…where _are_ you from anyway? What are you doing here?"

"Non-magic," Graham muttered, "you mean you attacked me because you thought I _wasn't_ a mage?" He shook his head and created a magic circle around his feet. "Why didn't you just say so?"

The three mages were very confused now. "You're a wizard? Where's your wand?"

Graham and Nanoha looked over the sticks the 'wizards' carried. "I don't have one."

"You don't…where did you study magic?"

"I don't think I'm going to answer your questions," Graham said sharply. "You attacked me without cause, remember."

"Um, well your cat _did_ attack an owl," one wizard tried lamely.

Graham gave him a 'not impressed' look.

Nanoha dropped her Protection spell. "Well, I'm glad we could talk this out," she said brightly. She turned to Graham. "I need to get back to my family if you'll be okay."

"Not so fast young lady," one of the wizards interrupted. "Whatever the circumstances, you still violated several laws here."

"Eh?" Nanoha asked, surprised. "What laws?"

"Underaged witches aren't allowed to use magic until they're seventeen," the man said. "Illegally enchanting a muggle artifact, for whatever that contraption you flew in on is. Risking the Statute of Secrecy by using such visible magic in broad daylight."

Nanoha blinked. "Whose laws are those?" she asked. They didn't sound anything like the TSAB's rules, and there weren't any other organizations active around Earth."

"The Ministry of Magic, of course. The Statute is international, naturally."

"Ministry of Magic?" Nanoha asked, looking to Graham.

The former admiral shrugged. "Never heard of it."

That was enough to make the wizard's jaws hang loose. "You…what?"

Nanoha blinked. "You mean there's an organization of mages active here? Locally?"

"Of course!" one wizard exploded.

Another waved his hand sharply. "Stop," he commanded. "This situation is officially well beyond our paygrade." He looked at the two mages with a heavy frown. "We would appreciate contact information that we could send to our superiors. They would like to call on you to discuss…this situation."

Nanoha smiled broadly. "I'd be glad to!" Finally, someone she didn't have to blast to bits to get to listen!

* * *

Lotte Liese was not happy when she woke up, but as promised was unharmed. The wizards had completely ignored the animal-form familiar after stunning her. After catching up with Nanoha for a few minutes (a conversation that caused more confusion among the wizards) Nanoha returned home.

It was probably best that she didn't see the wizards' reaction to her teleport spell.

The first thing Nanoha did when she got home was convince her family that she was fine (and that she hadn't maimed anyone). The second thing she did was establish a link to the TSAB and report in.

Nanoha smiled broadly as a face appeared on the magical screen. "Fate!"

"Hello, Nanoha," Fate said with a smile of her own. "I leave you alone for just a few days and you get yourself in another mess?"

"Mou, Fate-chan," Nanoha whined. "It wasn't my fault."

"It never is," Fate observed. "Mom assigned me to handle your debrief."

Nanoha quickly summarized the events in London for her closest friend.

Fate frowned. "And these 'wizards' are local to Earth? That's very strange that we've never encountered them."

"They wanted to erase the memories of a random man because he saw a letter," Nanoha pointed out. "They obviously go to great lengths not to be encountered."

Fate nodded. "That is true," she agreed. "And you think they'll have a representative meet with you?"

"They said it might take a couple days," Nanoha agreed. "Probably so they can interview Graham first. They seemed rather put off that I was from Japan."

Fate looked offscreen for a moment. "Then we'll be there to back you up."

Nanoha blinked. "What?"

Fate smiled. "One of the advantages of having friends and family in high places. Cuts through the red tape. Mom has authorized an expedition to make contact with this 'Ministry of Magic' and establish relations. This is now an official assignment from the Bureau. Consider yourself reactivated."

Nanoha grinned. "So I'm actually getting paid for this?"

Fate giggled and a second screen appeared, official TSAB authorization and overviews of other paperwork that had apparently been filled out so fast that if it was actual paper instead of datafiles the friction burns would have ignited the material. "There you go. You're on the clock, Nanoha."

Nanoha giggled back and looked over the document briefly, then frowned. "I don't know the ship they've assigned."

Fate sighed. "The _Arthra_ is part of the emergency response taskforce. This is a diplomatic mission. Sorry, not a lot of our friends are going to be able to make it. But the _Kaithya_ is a quick little ship." The second screen was replaced with an image of a dagger-like ship that looked like someone had sliced the _Arthra_ in half and smoothed off the edges around the cut. "She doesn't carry the guns or as many mages, but she's got all the other bells and whistles, including the best transport enhancer in the fleet just in case negotiations go badly."

Nanoha frowned. "That's not a good thought, Fate-chan. What would happen to my family?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Fate said. "That's completely precautionary. The better news is that she can get me back there inside that two day window."

Nanoha smiled warily. "Fate…I'm glad you'll be with me for this."

Fate smiled back. "It'll be okay, Nanoha. See you in a couple days."

Nanoha stared at nothing for a bit after the screen vanished and turned to her family. No one was happy with the ideas of negotiations going "badly."


	2. An Invitation

Chapter 2: An Invitation

Fate had managed to convince the _Kaithya_'s captain, a professional diplomat by the name of Trent Lacrosse, to push the ship as fast as he could. She was at Nanoha's side less than 18 hours after they had chatted.

Captain Lacrosse was not terribly amused that it took a full three days more before someone from the Wizarding World finally called on Nanoha. On that day, the 28th of July, The Takamachi residence was host to a single visitor, a tall, elderly man who introduced himself as the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. Momoko invited him in and watched silently as Albus Dumbledore met Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Harlaown.

Dumbledore had lobbied hard to be the one to make the approach. The international nature of the incident in London merited an equally international response, but that really wasn't the job of the Supreme Mugwump. Still, Albus burned favors to get here, in hopes of recruiting such a powerful young witch to his school rather than Mahoutokoro. And so he was the one to smile at Nanoha. "Hello, my name is Albus Dumbledore," he said in flawless Japanese.

"I'm Nanoha Takamachi," Nanoha replied. "And this is my friend, Fate Harlaown."

Dumbledore smiled at the blonde girl, using his practiced "kind old man" smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Harlaown, but I'm afraid I need to talk to Miss Takamachi and her family alone," he said apologetically. It was a genuine sympathy on his part; he hated seeing close friendships fall apart because one was wizarding and one was not, but it almost always happened after just a few years.

Fate shook her head. "Anything you can say to her, you can say to me. You're the representatives the wizards sent to learn more about our magic, right?"

Dumbledore quickly reevaluated the girl. _Our_ magic implied she too was a witch, already accomplished in the unusual, highly energetic spells Nanoha had demonstrated. And she was also nearly of schooling age…this was getting better and better. "Yes, I am. Because the incident took place on British soil but involved a Japanese national, the two governments decided to send the matter to the International Confederation."

"So the Ministry of Magic is local to Britain?" Nanoha asked. "And there's a Japanese magic government?"

"Yes and yes," Dumbledore answered. He offered another smile. "The latter is rather interested if you would know anything about some rather unusual magic activity over the past year. Something about a storm in the ocean and strange lights being seen by the muggles?"

Nanoha and Fate both gave nervous laughs and sheepish looks. "That's, uh, that's probably when we first met," Nanoha admitted. [We don't need to tell them about Yuuno or Hayate yet, right Fate?] she sent silently.

[Not until we know a lot more,] Fate agreed. "We have the data on those incidents if it's important," she said. "Do they use the same hardware as 'muggles?' I know we can download into those systems easily, but I'm not sure about anything more exotic."

"Ah, I'm afraid we don't use muggle equipment in general," Dumbledore said. "I do have an address that you could send a report to by post."

Nanoha blanched. "You mean, hardcopies?" The idea of printing out all the minutiae recorded by Raising Heart and Bardiche during the Precia Testarossa Incident alone and then _reading it_ was frightening.

Dumbledore frowned at the reaction. Apparently they thought they had more information than just a few feet of scroll's worth of memories. Interesting. "So those two incidents, whatever they were, were your only encounters with magic?"

Nanoha waved noncommittally. "After the second I've had a few cases, nothing nearly as big though."

"Same, I also had instruction before the first," Fate said.

"Instruction?" Dumbledore asked. "Who taught you?"

Fate hesitated, remembering Lilith. "She's dead now."

Dumbledore blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. Is anyone teaching you now?"

Fate frowned. "Why?"

Dumbledore leaned forward. "My appointment to the International Confederation is honestly not my most important duty. I spend most of my time as a headmaster at a school for wizards and witches."

Nanoha blinked. "Are you…offering to take us on as students?"

"I was planning on inviting you, Miss Takamachi," Dumbledore agreed, "but I see no reason not to invite you as well, Miss Harlaown."

Fate and Nanoha exchanged a look, and a telepathic exchange. [That would give us a good look at their society,] Fate hedged.

[Yes but can we get approval to extend our observation that long?] Nanoha wondered. [I mean, that could take a full year. And what about our _real_ school?]

[See if you can stall for a minute,] Fate said. [I'll run this by the ship.] Her eyes glazed as she contacted Lacrosse with this new development.

"Can I see the curriculum?" Momoko asked suddenly. The magic folks turned to her, slightly surprised that she had spoken. "I may not have my daughter's skills, but I need to make sure she has a proper education."

Dumbledore smiled. "Of course," he said, producing a small scroll and handing it to the mother. "A list of core classes, and electives at the higher levels."

Momoko unfurled the scroll and read over it. "Well first off, Nanoha is only ten. This says the first year students are brought in at eleven."

"She is a bit young," Dumbledore agreed, looking then to Nanoha. "But based on your encounter, you have the maturity and experience to fit in regardless."

"That's certainly true," Momoko mumbled, still looking over the curriculum. Not many mothers would be comfortable with their nine year old child vanishing off the face of the earth the way Nanoha had last year, with such a vague explanation on top of that, but her little girl was frighteningly direct with such things. If she said she had to do something, well, Momoko had learned to let her do it, with her blessing. She looked back to Dumbledore. "There's almost no science on this curriculum," she pointed out. "Or literature, mathematics, and I can only hope 'Muggle Studies' is a supplement to 'History of Magic.' I'm not convinced this could prepare my girl for her future."

Dumbledore frowned. Most muggle parents were overcome by the strangeness of the Wizarding World and glad to have someone teach their children to control their magic. He'd never encountered one that was worried about academics…but then few muggleborns had such strong magic in their personal histories as Nanoha. Presumably Momoko had already made her peace with the magical reality of her kin. "Such subjects are…not common among our people," he confessed.

"Wait," Nanoha said, "then what do you teach?"

"Mostly spells," her mother said, reading over the class list. "Three classes devoted to different kinds of spells. I suppose potions, herbology, and astronomy count as scientific. There are clubs as well, yes?"

"Oh yes," Dumbledore agreed, producing another, larger scroll. "Art, music, athletics, and many others."

Momoko looked over this list with much more acceptance. The lack of science and exposure to culture still upset her, but many of the liberal arts were covered by this expanded list.

"Mrs. Takamachi," Fate said suddenly, "I think we can find a way to cover those areas on our own."

Momoko looked at the blonde girl and gauged her expression. Fate had a solid poker face, but Momoko saw in her eyes that this wasn't an idle supposition. The girl had a plan, a plan she knew would work. "Oh? Well, in that case I won't stand in your way if you want to do this, Nanoha."

Fate glanced at Nanoha. [Lacrosse wants us to go ahead.]

Nanoha smiled at Dumbledore. "Then I guess we should get ready for school."

Dumbledore smiled and produced a letter, sealed in an envelope with Nanoha's name on it. "I was hoping you would say that. This contains a list of all the school supplies you will need and instructions on how to get to the school, where to acquire those supplies, so on. The school's name is Hogwarts."

Nanoha recognized the name. "Graham found a 'Hogwarts letter' when this all started," she said.

Dumbledore nodded. "Letters like this are given to all students, new and old. Your encounter happened not far from the King's Cross train station – that is where you will need to go on the first day of September. There is a shopping district in London called Diagon Alley where you are most likely to find everything you need on this list, including a bank where you can exchange money for our own coinage.

"Both Diagon Alley and Platform Nine and Three-Quarters are connected to the Floo Network, and Diagon Alley is connected to the International Transit Network. I have included in your letter directions to the nearest magical district here, where you can find an access point. I believe the Japanese network prefers to use a kind of open pit rather than fireplaces, but the principles are the same."

Nanoha had no idea how fires and fireplaces had anything to do with international travel, but she was quickly realizing that wizards were fairly unusual in how they used common devices. "Thank you very much," she said, not quite able to keep her skepticism out of her voice. "That will be a great help."

Dumbledore offered a few details on how the Wizarding World occluded itself from muggle society, including disguising their magical artifacts as things muggles would not be surprised by. "So when we standardized transportation, we chose fireplaces. Almost every home and building has some kind of place for a large fire to cook and provide heat, and it's not unusual for them to be large enough for a man to stand in."

Nanoha nodded. "Oh, I see. That makes sense."

Fate wasn't as easily convinced. "But most houses use some kind of electric heat now, right?"

Dumbledore offered a wry smile. "Which are much smaller and don't work well in a wizarding home anyway," he explained. "They wouldn't serve our purpose at all."

Fate frowned. "Sounds like you're going to have a problem keeping things secret much longer," she observed.

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "The muggle world is changing rapidly," he agreed. "There are calls for reform, but the old wizarding families see no need to do away with heirlooms or go through the upheaval of new standards."

Momoko nodded to that. "That, at least, is not something unique to wizards. My grandfather was the same way. Only thing electric in that house were the lightbulbs."

Dumbledore offered a small smile to the anecdote. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm rather curious about that unusual wand you used, Nanoha."

"Eh? Oh, you mean my device," Nanoha realized. "Her name is Raising Heart." She pulled on her necklace and brought the red gem into view.

Dumbledore blinked once. "Perhaps I was not clear. I meant the short staff you were carrying when you rescued your friend, Gil Graham."

"Stand by, ready," Raising Heart said, much to Dumbledore's surprise. He hid it well, though.

"Set up," Nanoha asked simply. Raising Heart flashed bright pink and expanded into Axel Mode.

Dumbledore nodded. "An ingenious way to carry such a large wand unobtrusively," he complimented. "You said it is called Raging Heart?"

"Raising," Nanoha corrected. "Her full name is Raising Heart Exelion."

"Not that 'Raging Heart' would be inappropriate," Fate muttered.

Nanoha pouted. "Mou, Fate's being mean to me."

Dumbledore smiled at the exchange and looked to Fate. "Do you have a similar…device, I believe you called it?"

Fate nodded and presented a golden triangle that Dumbledore had assumed was just a bit of jewelry. "Get set," it intoned in a distinctly masculine voice. "Drive ignition, Assault Form."

Dumbledore was slightly put off by the more weapon-looking staff Fate now gripped. "His name is Bardiche," Fate said.

Dumbledore was even less happy to hear it was named after the polearm it resembled. "That sounds like it is primarily a weapon."

Fate nodded. "He was designed as such," she said without emotion. "He was made for me so I could perform a specific mission. After that failed, he was one of only three people that stood by me."

"What was your mission?" Dumbledore asked.

Fate and Nanoha exchanged a look. "That…is a very long story," Fate said.

"Which we'd rather not talk about just yet," Nanoha added.

Dumbledore nodded and backed off. "Well, I would recommend you purchase wands before attending Hogwarts, but I hope you consider experimenting to see how our magic and your devices interact."

"I can do it, my master," Raising Heart objected.

Nanoha smiled and giggled. "I know you can, Raising Heart, but wouldn't it be interesting to see how much better you are than a wand?"

"All right, my master." Although the electronic voice betrayed no emotion, even Dumbledore could hear the device's soothed pride.

Fate chuckled and looked at Nanoha's letter with a sudden thought. "Can I bring my familiar?" she asked.

Nanoha blinked. The idea that Arf wouldn't be able to come with them hadn't crossed her mind at all. "We can't leave Arf behind," she agreed, looking to Dumbledore.

"Students are allowed to bring a cat, owl, or toad as a familiar," Dumbledore said.

Fate shook her head. "Arf is a puppy," she complained. She looked away and called, "Arf, can you come in here?"

"Sure, Fate," Arf called, trotting in.

Dumbledore looked at the talking red-furred puppy and then back to Fate. "It's usually not a problem to allow other familiars. One of your peers will be bringing a rat, I know a few that have snakes. I myself have a phoenix. Your Arf is a bit large, however. Can she take care of herself while you are in class?"

"Of course she can," Fate said. "What kind of familiar can't?"

Dumbledore got the feeling that the ability to talk was not the only thing that made Arf different from the familiars he was familiar with. "Forgive me," he said, addressing both Fate and Arf, "perhaps you can explain to me what you mean by familiar? I fear we are thinking very different things."

The puppy blinked and, with a glow of orange magic, turned into a young woman, perhaps a late teen, with large pointed ears and a fluffy tail. "I am a magical creature Fate created," Arf explained.

Dumbledore shook his head in quiet amazement. "Fascinating. I'll enter your exception into the school's records, Miss Fate…but you should both be aware that someone is going to want to classify you, Miss Arf, to formally enter this kind of familiar into our records."

Arf's lips twitched into a frown. "What do you mean, classify me?" she asked.

"There's no set procedure," Dumbledore explained. "But I promise to assign a professor, if not attend personally, to make sure you are treated with dignity." He smiled apologetically. "I realize this is rude, but I must ask. Do you have any abilities that could be called dangerous?"

Arf smiled wryly. "I can cast spells and turn into a full grown wolf."

"Ah…I believe that's a yes," Dumbledore concluded with his own dry wit. "Please don't do anything that might get parents upset, it is ever so inconvenient."

"I'll try my best," Arf promised.

Dumbledore nodded, hoping he wouldn't regret this. An unknown magical creature with potentially dangerous powers was being allowed to roam freely in Hogwarts with nothing but a promise to keep her in line. Granted he made it policy that Hogwarts be just dangerous enough to teach his students caution and responsibility without risking any serious incidents, but he knew all too well how some parents could take those little dangers and magnify them to the point where it seemed that trolls and dragons waited around every corner.

Dumbledore left a few minutes later. Nanoha walked him out the door and was only mildly surprised that he vanished after crossing the threshold. The teleport spell he used felt…odd. Nanoha wasn't as skilled as Shamal or Yuuno with dissecting magical traces, but for a teleport to fire off that fast it had to be very powerful or, more likely, unstable. She resolved never to hitch a ride with a teleporting wizard.

When Nanoha returned inside, she saw Fate, Arf, and her mother conversing with a magic screen showing a grim-faced man that had to be Captain Lacrosse.

"Ah, you must be Nanoha. Good to finally meet you," he said.

"Captain Lacrosse," Nanoha greeted. "Good to be working with you."

"As I was just telling your mother, we'll be putting together a curriculum of academic topics not covered at this Hogwarts and assembling lessons that your devices can execute. I assume you are familiar with the instructional simulation programs?"

Nanoha laughed lightly. "I run training sims every day, Captain."

Lacrosse blinked at this. "Every day?"

"Yup. As many as I can."

Lacrosse was visibly shocked by this. "…now?"

"Pattern-1669," Nanoha said immediately. "Advanced scenario collection. I'm having some trouble getting past the third drone…oh. Eight bullets from evenly spaced directions on divergent courses did it."

Fate shook her head and looked at Lacrosse. "I told you, she's always training."

Momoko frowned at her daughter sadly. There comes a point where every parent realizes that her child's head is full of things beyond their comprehension. But those were supposed to be hormones, three or four years from now, not intense combat simulations _already a year old_.

Lacrosse shook his head in quiet amazement. "I know mages twice your age that couldn't touch the advanced scenarios," he said. "In any case, it won't be too hard to link Raising Heart and Bardiche to the _Kaithya_ and make sure your educations don't suffer."

Nanoha and Fate nodded. "That's a relief," Nanoha said. "What about supplies?"

Lacrosse looked offscreen. "This is an official mission, so the TSAB will foot the bill. We're setting up bank accounts for you in London," he said. "You'll have access to your salaries and a credit line for expenses." He smiled slightly. "Try to keep records. The misers in quartermaster hate open credit like this."

"We know," Nanoha and Fate said flatly. Momoko looked at them curiously and Nanoha explained, "Last case was a search and rescue. I needed to purchase a kind of weasel thing that ate insects to clear a hive away from my target. My paycheck was slashed since 'exotic pets' aren't a valid expense."

Fate snorted. "You got off lucky. Two months ago I needed to get information out of a potential suspect. Guy's favorite phrase was 'for the price of a beer.' Lost my pay and Mom gave me a lecture about drinking."

Momoko shook her head and consoled herself that the children were not engaged in such madness _all_ the time. Besides, this next mission was just going to be observing a boarding school. How dangerous could it possibly be?


	3. Shopping

Chapter 3: Shopping

A few days after being enrolled at Hogwarts, Nanoha and Fate were finally ready to take care of their shopping list.

The delay came from two quarters. First, it had taken longer than anticipated to find a British bank with ties to "Gringotts." Wizarding secrecy made it nearly impossible to get ahold of someone who knew what they were talking about, let alone was willing to admit anything. Second, Momoko wasn't about to let her daughter enroll at a school on the far side of the world without at least seeing the kind of people her mother would be living with. It took a few days to make sure the Midoriya would be covered despite her absence.

The closest wizarding district was, unsurprisingly, not in Uminari. There would have been no way that the incidents over the past year could have been missed by a local wizard population. Instead, Fate, Arf, Nanoha, and Momoko boarded a train headed into Tokyo. They got off at a station in Ota Ward and Nanoha took out her letter.

"It says…now we need to get on a subway line," she said.

Fate looked around a moment and pointed. "There," she said. "What train?"

"That's the weird thing," Nanoha said as they headed underground. "It says to head to the closed ticket booth and walk through the wall opposite the map."

Fate took the leather and read it over. "Hidden doorway?" she speculated.

"Has to be," Nanoha agreed.

"Isn't that a little suspicious?" Momoko asked.

"No more than asking Arf not to transform in public," Fate answered. "Most people aren't used to magic."

As the letter promised, they found a single closed ticket booth in the subway. It was old, obviously retired permanently from use, and was at once inconspicuous enough to overlook but completely out of place if you stopped to think about it. Exactly the kind of thing you'd use to mark a semisecret doorway. It only took them a moment to locate a map on the other side of the room, close enough to attract attention from the condemned ticket booth. And across from the map, next to the booth, was an arch recessed in the wall. A bit of decorative architecture, and almost certainly the hidden doorway.

[Sir, barrier detected, unknown type,] Bardiche reported silently.

"This is the place," Fate nodded. "The arch has a barrier in it. Maybe we should just try to walk through it?"

Nanoha nodded and walked forward. She gently put her hand to the wall. It was solid at first, but evaporated as soon as she took a step closer. She stumbled slightly and walked all the way through and into another subway station entirely. She looked behind herself and saw Fate and the others clear as day. "It's okay," she called. They didn't react, and she noticed they all looked worried. Nanoha stared at Fate and tried telepathy. [Fate?]

[Nanoha!] Relief broke on Fate's expression. [Are you okay?]

[Yeah I'm fine,] Nanoha said. [I can see you through the barrier. Don't worry, just walk on through.]

Nanoha turned from the entrance and took in the station. It was, she decided, almost completely ordinary. Metal and concrete walls, LCD and plasma screens, electric lights, it looked just like any other underground railway station. The difference was in the details.

First off, the people. Some of them were as normal as you could want, while others wore robes that looked centuries out of date. Some people were what Nanoha would classify as aliens, but she doubted that any were genuinely extraterrestrial given that this society had yet to master space travel. Just as wizards in Uminari could not have missed Nanoha's adventures, so too would the TSAB be unable to miss signs of advanced magitechnology.

Momoko walked up to her daughter and frowned. "Is that a nine tailed fox?"

"Apparently," Nanoha agreed.

"…do you see these things often?"

"Well, I haven't seen things straight out of bedtime stories before," Nanoha confessed.

The other difference was in the screens. Oh they looked ordinary, but instead of advertisements for food or movies, there were ads for potions, ofuda, and flying carpets. Fate stared at this last one when she walked through the doorway. "Why would anyone need a carpet to fly?" she asked.

"I suppose we'll find out," Nanoha said optimistically.

[Do you think anyone would mind if I changed back?] Arf asked.

Fate blinked. "I don't think so. These people are used to magic."

Arf nodded and transformed to her mostly human form. "Oh good, I was getting a little tired of being a puppy all the time."

"What happened to that form being energy efficient?" Nanoha teased.

Arf blushed slightly. "Um…well…just never mind, okay?"

Nanoha was still giggling softly when they made it to the ticket booth.

The witch behind the glass glanced over them with an unconvincingly bored expression, before settling on Momoko. "Yes? Can I help you?" she asked pleasantly.

Momoko smiled. "I hope so. We're somewhat new to this and were told that there was an international transit hub here."

The witch's eyes shifted to Nanoha quickly. "Are you Muggleborn, child?"

Nanoha blinked. "I, uh, guess so?" she ventured.

"Well then," the witch said, ignoring Momoko completely, "you'll be wanting passage to the Isle, then head for the Fire Pits. You'll find someone there that can help you further."

"Isle?" Nanoha asked curiously.

The witch blinked. "They just tossed you into the deep end, then?" she asked knowingly. "No worries, you'll get the knack of it. Short version, then. There's an island about a hundred miles out you won't find on any muggle map. The shuttle here will take you there in just under five minutes. Got that?"

Nanoha nodded, but Fate glanced at the tracks. "When is the next train?" she asked.

The witch merely smiled and gave the four their tickets. "Right now."

As soon as they touched the tickets they flashed with a pale green light. They frowned at the brief display before noticing a brighter, matching light coming from the tracks. They stared, fascinated, as the light coalesced into the shape of a tiny Shinkansen style bullet train, just large enough for four passengers in the single-car vehicle.

The four women looked at the vehicle for a moment and then back at the witch, who smiled and nodded. Not at all reassured, they walked over to the contraption and Nanoha toed the construct. "It feels solid," she said. [What do you think, Raising Heart?]

[The field is stable. Tensile strength sufficient for our needs.]

"Bardiche thinks it's safe," Fate says softly.

Nanoha nodded and put her weight firmly on the faintly glowing energy field. "So does Raising Heart."

The four sat down, hesitant despite their assurances that the magic shuttle wasn't going to vanish or something. When they were all strapped in the shuttle's walls filled in, sealing them in. A deep tone sounded, their only warning before they were pushed deep into their seats by sudden acceleration. They had a clear view out the front of the tiny train, and saw the tunnel walls flashing by at absurd speeds. The crushing acceleration let up, although they were still at far too high a velocity to be comfortable.

Nanoha pulled Raising Heart up so she could see the gem, drawing comfort from her presence. "Raising Heart, how fast are we going?"

"Approximately mach one point three."

Momoko blanched. "We're supersonic?" she asked weakly.

"Yes," Raising Heart answered.

"What the hell is that?" Arf yelled, causing everyone to look forward. The tunnel was ending, with the tracks continuing into a solid wall of water.

Although she was the only one in the car who couldn't calculate the forces involved in such a collision, Momoko added her voice to the screams, well aware that the sudden transition from air to water could hurt even at comprehensible speeds. She was vaguely aware of the girls casting barriers, but did they have any real hope to-!

And then they were underwater. The transition had been seamless, without the shuttle so much as shuddering through an impact that should have pulped the car and everything inside. Breathing heavily, the girls dropped their barriers.

"That was…exciting," Nanoha offered.

"I think I could have used a warning first," Fate agreed.

"I think I need new shorts," Arf said.

Wisely, no one commented on that. The ride had no further surprises, staying underwater for most of the journey, at speeds too great to make out any details. They entered another tunnel in the last few seconds of the journey and were nearly thrown from their seats by a deceleration as rapid as the earlier acceleration. Then, suddenly, they weren't moving. The shuttle's door dissolved and they staggered onto the platform of a new station, apparently on the mysterious island of wizarding Tokyo. The shuttle dissolved to nothing behind them. After taking a moment to recover their equilibrium, the quartet ventured up and out of the station.

Any thought that they were still in any kind of recognizable part of Tokyo evaporated when they reached street level. The towering skyscrapers of downtown Tokyo were replicated in miniature, with buildings at most five stories tall using the same ultramodern architecture. These pretenses to the glories of the modern age coexisted with pagodas and other wooden buildings of a bygone era. Such buildings would be historical treasures, but here they were clearly in use and garnished no more a glance than anything else from the locals.

Fortunately the station had a local map next to it. Fate scanned it over quickly. "This is a shopping district," she said shortly. "A few hotels. Ah, here. International fire pits. It should be just around the corner." She pointed down one road.

The International Fire Pit turned out to be a wide, ancient building not unlike a Shinto temple. The four walked in cautiously and looked around. Set into the floor were six or more shallow pits with open charcoal fires, the favored means of space heating in Japan until the development of electric heaters. They also saw a man dressed in what could have been a uniform.

One of the pits suddenly flared, green flames shooting to the ceiling. They jumped back in shock, Nanoha gripping Raising Heart and only a moment from activating her to deal with the flames, but the wooden structure didn't catch fire. By far the stranger part of the event, however, was the dark-skinned man that calmly walked out of the flames, dressed as some kind of desert prince. He took no notice of them and continued on his way, the fire behind him quickly dropping down to barely anything.

The uniformed man, clearly an attendant, walked over to the recovering women with a smile. "Ladies, may I presume that you've never travelled by fire before?" he asked.

Nanoha shook her head. "We only learned about all this a few days ago."

"A few…you're Nanoha Takamachi, aren't you?" the man asked.

Nanoha's eyes widened. She was still getting used to the idea that she was a quasi-famous prodigy among the TSAB. These people had known her for a week at most! "How…how do you know me?" she squeaked.

The man laughed kindly. "I'm sorry, that must have been intimidating. Don't worry, it'll blow over soon enough I suspect, but the girl that put a trio of British Obliviators in their place made every paper in our world, front page."

"Really?" Nanoha gasped.

Fate giggled. "I wonder if they'll start calling you the White Devil too."

"Faaaaate," Nanoha whined.

Arf cackled and even Momoko had to smile at Nanoha's expense, but she held enough control to look to the man. "We need to get to London," she explained.

"And don't want another scene of underage appartition?" the man said knowingly. "You came to the right place. There is a small toll, just five hundred yen a piece. Don't worry about the return trip; fire travel is still popular in England." Momoko wordlessly handed over a couple thousand yen notes, stunned by the low price. "There we go, and here are your sticks," he said, handing them each a small, thin stick. "Now all you have to do is toss this stick in the fire and say, very clearly, where you want to go. You're going to want 'Diagon Alley.' Best to practice saying it a couple times just to be sure. Once the fire turns green, you can walk on through."

Fate went first. She held the stick in her hands. [Captain Lacrosse, I'm about to use some kind of transfer magic to England.]

[Understood, Fate. We have a full sensor lock on your signal. Good luck.]

Fate stood gingerly over the smoldering charcoal and dropped the stick. "Diagon Alley!" The flames roared and she felt the world passing by, like she was hurtling through a tunnel far stranger and far faster than the train. But here there was no acceleration, no real sensation at all. Then suddenly there was a tug, she was on her feet, and she stumbled out of a dirty fireplace in a dark, definitively European tavern.

[Captain?] she sent.

[That was quite a ride, Fate,] Lacrosse sent back. [We'll be analyzing the data we picked up but preliminary shows that the magic is safe. Remarkably efficient, too.]

Fate nodded to herself slightly and took in her surroundings. The sudden transition from typically light Japanese construction to the more solid buildings used in England had her slightly disoriented, but she quickly decided she was in some kind of restaurant or bar. The people, who seemed exclusively human here, were dressed predominantly in long black robes, with the occasional pointed hat. Grey robes were not uncommon, either, but only a few people wore anything terribly distinctive, like one man wearing a purple turban who seemed nervous to shake the hand of a boy about her age standing next to the single largest man Fate had ever seen.

The fires roared again and Fate turned to see Arf walk through. "I can't believe this," she said loudly, brushing soot out of her tail. "What are these wizards thinking, putting people through a fire. Can't they just teleport like sensible mages?"

"Arf," Fate interrupted, noticing a fair number of eyes had drifted over to them. "You're making a scene."

Arf immediately looked contrite, her ears drooping. "I'm sorry, Fate."

"That's okay," Fate soothed. "I know you didn't mean any harm."

The large man came over, and Fate got a better look at him. Large was an understatement. He had a heavy beard, fairly kind face, and was dressed in some kind of leather outfit that was so massive a whole herd of…whatever animal it was could have been slaughtered to make it. "Hullo there," he said friendlily. "Name's Hagrid. D'ya mind if I ask what manner of creature that is?"

Arf's lip twitched slightly at being referred to in the third person. She was used to being ignored, but no one since Prescia had referred to her like you would a thing.

Fate frowned. "You can ask her yourself," she said coolly.

Hagrid blinked and looked to Arf. "Sorry about that, didn't mean no harm. 'm just interested is all."

Arf smiled, mollified by his apology. "Thank you. My name's Arf. I'm Fate's familiar."

"Fate T. Harlaown," Fate introduced herself. "I'm a new student at Hogwarts."

The fireplace flared again and Nanoha stepped through. "Hey, Fate," she called, dusting herself off. "Who's your friend?"

"Rubeus Hagrid," Hagrid introduced himself. "Groundskeeper at Hogwarts."

Fate blinked. "You work at Hogwarts?" She looked at the boy who seemed to be totally lost by their conversation. "And are you his son?" she asked.

The boy shook his head. "No, my parents are dead. Hagrid's just helping me buy my school supplies. My name's Harry Potter." He flinched slightly, as if expecting Fate to jump on the name.

"I'm Nanoha Takamachi," Nanoha introduced herself. The fireplace flared again. "And that's my mother, Momoko Takamachi."

"Tanaki?" Hagrid mangled, thinking hard. "Where have I heard that name?"

"Really, Hagrid," the bartender called. "She's the muggleborn that made all that fuss last week!"

Nanoha blushed as more attention focused on her. Harry looked at her. "So you're famous, too?" he asked almost eagerly.

"I don't think so," Nanoha said.

"Neither did I," Harry said with a smile. "But I don't think we get to decide."

Nanoha nodded glumly.

Hagrid looked at a tiny pocketwatch. "Oh my, Harry we'd better get going. You've got a lot of supplies to get."

Nanoha made a snap decision. "Could we join you?" she asked. "We're here to buy Hogwarts supplies too, but we've never been here before."

Hagrid looked like he was about to agree, but looked down to Harry. "Well, Harry?"

The boy smiled so wide his face was going to fall off. "Sure!"

* * *

The first stop was Gringotts. The goblins put everyone on edge, but nothing terrible happened. Momoko took the role as a designated adult to have funds drained from the accounts the TSAB set up and converted into the strange wizard coinage while Harry and Hagrid went down to the vaults.

"Will we have to deal with vaults too?" Nanoha asked.

Momoko shook her head. "I only had them change money out of the, er, muggle bank. The interest rates are better that way, and it'll be easier for your Captain to increase your funds if he needs to."

"Oh, I see," Nanoha said.

Harry and Hagrid returned from the vaults looking vaguely sick. "The carts," Harry explained. Having experienced enough wizard travel for the day, the four women just nodded in understanding.

"We should start with the robes," Momoko suggested. "Those could take a while to get fitted."

"Aye, good idea," Hagrid approved. "Madam Malkin's is where you ought to go." He pointed at a large storefront that proudly proclaimed _Robes for All Occasions_. As the three children headed inside, Hagrid turned to Arf. "Er, Miss Arf, I realize this is none o' my place, but maybe yeh should…"

Arf smiled and placed one hand on her hip, shifting her weight to show off her midriff better. "Get some less conspicuous clothes?" she offered.

Hagrid nodded. "Yeh. I'm not saying nothing about your tastes, but every student'll be in uniform at Hogwarts."

Arf closed her eyes and nodded. "You're probably right. I'll design a new barrier jacket later."

"A what?" Hagrid asked.

Arf gestured. "My clothes are magic. I summon them when I take this form."

While Hagrid dealt with Arf's revelation, the children were getting fitted for Hogwarts robes next to a rather pale, blonde boy. He looked them over. "Hogwarts for you, too?" he asked.

The three nodded. "Our first year," Nanoha added.

The blonde frowned. "Funny accent. Where are you from?"

"Japan," Nanoha said.

"Why'd you come to England then?" he asked, more idly curious than anything else, but there was something slimy about how he looked at them.

"Dumbledore recruited us," Nanoha said, gesturing at herself and Fate.

"Really," the boy said, not quite a question. "Interesting. Do you know why?"

"You're done, lad," one of the measurers said.

"Oh, okay." The boy hopped down from his stool and walked out. He paused and looked back a moment. "I'll see you in school." Then he was gone.

"That was creepy," Fate said.

"Oh good, I thought it was just me," Harry added.

* * *

With Hagrid in the lead, the trio quickly acquired everything they needed for school. Hagrid got Harry an owl, and Fate picked up a number of history books for Lacrosse and his crew to go over. Momoko took one look at the "Muggle Studies" text and declared the subject to be useless. Finally the only thing left was a wand.

Ollivander's, a mess of a store if ever there was one. And the man himself wasn't much better. Nanoha and Fate watched with polite amusement as Harry was subjected to a ridiculous battery of measurements and then a massive pile of wands pass through his hand one at a time. When they finally got a match with an 'unusual' wand, Nanoha and fate traded a glance. They knew what it was like to activate a device for the first time. These wands, they looked like storage devices, but the activation resembled intelligent devices.

The revelation that this man had sold a wand to a psychopath, and that Harry's wand was somehow related, was rather unwelcome as well. The boy left the shop, looking troubled. [Arf,] Fate sent, [Harry just learned some troubling things. Can you follow him? Discreetly?]

[On it, Fate,] Arf sent back.

"Now," Ollivander said, looking at the two girls. "Wand hands out, please."

Nanoha extended her left hand, Fate her right. Ollivander didn't comment and took a few measurements. "Hmm. Curious. Okay, we'll start with you, Miss Takamachi. Mahoganny and unicorn, five inches, smooth."

Nanoha grasped the offered wand. [Raising Heart?]

[There is a reaction. No baseline for comparison.]

[Record the reactions,] Nanoha ordered. [Try and develop a scale.]

[Yes, my master.]

"No," Ollivander said, plucking the wand out and trying another. "Yew and dragon, ten inches…"

[Weaker reaction.]

"Applewood and phoenix,"

[Stronger reaction.]

A dozen wands later, Raising Heart had developed a rough scale. It finally peaked with "Cedar and unicorn tailhair, eleven inches, very shiny."

Nanoha gripped the pure white wand and felt a tiny tingle. She waved it and the back wall exploded. [Strong reaction, estimate 87% effectiveness,] Raising Heart sent.

"Close," Ollivander said, studying the wand. "Very close. I have seen some witches claim such a wand, Miss Takamachi, but they were never strong witches." One Dolores Umbridge came to mind. "I think you can do better." He turned to study the destroyed wall. "Hmmm. I wonder. Such a reaction with an imperfect match…"

Nanoha traded a glance with Fate as Ollivander ran into the back and brought out a wand case. Unlike the others, this one was sealed with iron and locked solid. Ollivander opened it and carefully handled the wand inside, mostly white with pink cherry blossoms. "Cherry and dragon heartstring, twelve inches, quite firm." He handed it to Nanoha the way one might handle a bomb.

The moment Nanoha's fingers touched the smooth wood, she felt it. Her magic wanted to pour through the stick the same way it wanted to empower Raising Heart. Like a spillway, the wand let her magic flow, and she shaped it reflexively. The Mid circle glimmered around her feet, and the tip of her wand trailed glittery pink lines. "Stand by, ready," Raising Heart announced. "Reaction confirmed."

Nanoha glanced down at her chest. "Raising Heart? I told you to stay silent." Her tone was curious, not admonishing.

"Sorry, my master."

"That magical flare must have confused her," Fate said. She looked at her hand. "Bardiche? Feel free to give an audible report."

"Yes, sir," the golden triangle responded.

Ollivander looked between the witches. "Curious, most curious. These baubles of yours, they are akin to wands?"

"For a different kind of magic," Nanoha clarified.

"Indeed. I would be very interested in learning more."

Fate thought that over. "If you could tell our technicians about wand craft, I could put in for you to meet with one."

"I can teach much about wandlore, as long as you don't expect me to divulge trade secrets."

Fate nodded. "I'll pass that message along," she said seriously. "But for now, I would like my own wand, please."

"Ah, of course. Hmm, let's get started. Mahogany and unicorn, nine inches…"

Ollivander was overjoyed to work with Fate. Bardiche's running tally almost always agreed with Ollivander's intuition, and the wizened old man forced the device to confess that they were within its margin of error when they disagreed. "Ebony and phoenix feather, six inches, nice and swishy."

"Reaction 89%. Match," Bardiche said.

"It's close, but like your friend…your friend." Ollivander glanced between the two girls. "Now that _would_ be curious." He ran off down the stacks and came back a minute later with a very specific box. "Blackthorn and dragonheartstring, twelve inches, unyielding."

Fate gripped the jet black wand and, like Nanoha, felt a magic flare that she reflexively molded into a circle at her feet. Her wand wove sparking yellow lines in the air. "Get set," Bardiche announced. "Reaction confirmed."

Ollivander smiled. "I thought so. Never in my lifetime nor my father's has this happened, though. Extraordinary."

"What has happened?" Fate asked. "How did you know this wand would…choose me?"

"As I told Mr. Potter, a phoenix feather resides in his wand, and its brother chose the hand of You-Know-Who. The heartstrings that sit in your wands also came from the same dragon." Nanoha and Fate looked at the wands, and then their wands' 'sister' in shock. "To see two pairs of twin cores resolve itself in the same day, the same hour? Extraordinary. I could write a paper on these five minutes alone."

Nanoha and Fate looked at the wandmaker. "Blackthorn is a relative of cherry as well, right?" Fate asked. Ollivander nodded.

"Can you tell us more about our wands, sir?" Nanoha asked.

"A great deal," Ollivander said. "The dragon whose heart resides in your wands was an ancient creature, violent but noble. He followed his own code with unwavering loyalty, and when he died all those centuries ago his heart was harvested with all the dignity that could be afforded."

"Centuries?" Fate asked.

"Oh yes, these wands have rejected many hands before your own. Particularly yours, Miss Takamachi."

Nanoha frowned at her wand. "That sounds…ominous, sir."

Ollivander nodded. "No wand in this shop is unexceptional, Miss Takamachi, but few are as tempermental as your own. Treat it with care and deliberation, and it will serve you well."

The girls bowed to the wandmaker and purchased their wands, as well as thin leather bracelet sheathes to store them in under their robes, close at hand. Even so, they carried them out of the store.

Hagrid smiled. "Did yeh get yer wands alright?" he asked.

Nanoha and Fate held up the wands and Hagrid smiled. "Good for you. Well, I best be going. Dumbledore will be wanting…" he brought his hand to a breast pocket and stopped. "Well, he'll be wanting to see me, anyway. Now, you three all have your train tickets? Good, good. Harry, you can get home safe? Good. Then I'll see you all at start of term."

Goodbyes were said by all and they went their separate ways. "So, Arf," Fate asked. "Did you learn anything?"

"Yeah," the unusually quiet familiar said. "And it's not good. It's actually pretty horrible. We should go see the captain. Now."

Nanoha and Fate traded a look and then glanced to Momoko. "Uh, Mom?" Nanoha started.

"Will this mean we can avoid the fire and trains?" Momoko asked in good humor. "Because I wouldn't mind a detour that took us to the moon to avoid that.

* * *

Momoko looked out the _Kaithya_'s starboard window at the lunar surface, then glanced behind her at the much more distant Earth out the port window. She looked to her daughter, nonplussed. "I did not mean that literally."

Nanoha giggled nervously. "One small teleport for a mage, one giant leap for café owners?"

"I don't think there's much of a market to corner in lunar orbit," Momoko said dryly.

Captain Lacrosse walked forward. "Nanoha, it's time for your debriefing. Mrs. Takamachi, if you wish you could wait in the lounge, or we could send you home now."

Momoko looked to Nanoha. "You'll be okay?" she asked.

Nanoha nodded without hesitation. "I'll be home before supper."

Momoko bowed to Lacrosse. "Thank you, Captain. I think I've had enough adventure for one day."

"Of course." He turned to his crew. "Open the gate, Takamachi residence, on the double."

"Sir!"

Lacrosse gestured to a small alcove. "When that glows with magical light, just walk in. You'll be teleported home. It was a pleasure having you on my ship." He bowed in turn and headed to the debriefing room.

Nanoha and Fate went over what they had discovered and turned over their textbooks to be entered into the ship's library.

"There's also the matter of your wands," Lacrosse added. "We'd like to study them in the maintenance lab, before we contact Ollivander."

Nanoha and Fate found themselves oddly reluctant to turn over their wands, but the device techs knew better than to take apart _anything_ they were not absolutely positive they could put back together. With so many unknowns, wands certainly fell outside that category.

Then they turned to Arf. "What did you find out about the Potter boy?" Lacrosse asked.

Arf sighed. "Getting details out of Hagrid was worse than pulling teeth. Ten years ago there was a major wizarding criminal, Hagrid didn't know his real name. The alias he chose for himself was 'Lord Voldemort.' Voldemort waged a campaign of terror against wizarding Britain that abruptly ended about ten years ago. His last confirmed actions were the murder of Lily and James Potter, Harry's parents, and the attempted murder of Harry himself."

"Attempted?" Lacrosse asked. "How does someone kill two fully grown adults but fail to kill an infant?"

Arf shook her head. "No one knows," she said glumly. "Harry grew up with nonmagical relatives, while the wizarding world turned him into 'The Boy Who Lived,' a mysterious, legendary figure."

"Was Voldemort killed?" Lacrosse asked.

"Whatever happened between him and the Potters, Voldemort's ultimate fate remains unknown. His followers are imprisoned, although he made liberal use of mind control spells and it's generally believed that many of his 'victims' were co-conspirators."

"Innocent until proven guilty, a good sign," Lacrosse nodded. "Anything else to report?"

Arf paused for a moment. "Nothing relevant to the society, I think, but a personal matter. Harry's reaction when speaking about his relatives was guarded, filled with phrases like 'they were forced to take him in.' I think they're abusing him."

Fate's hands clenched and she felt a scowl appear on her face. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"No," Arf admitted. "I couldn't just interrogate him. But…I know the signs."

That was certainly true. Fate Testarossa had been a tortured creature. "Do we have any options?" Nanoha asked softly.

"Only if he requests asylum," Lacrosse said bitterly. "If you confirm, I'll get the paperwork going to offer asylum instead."

Fate nodded, still scowling. She wouldn't let anyone suffer like she had, not if she could help it. And if Arf was right, heaven help Harry's aunt and uncle.


	4. The Train and the Hat

Chapter 4: The Train and the Hat

September first was always a hectic day on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Students and parents running everywhere, trunks and animals getting jostled around, a tight schedule to keep in the midst of rampant chaos. And it didn't help that there were never enough fireplaces to go around.

Nanoha Takamachi coughed out the soot that had somehow built up in her lungs. "This is not a dignified way for a mage to teleport," she whined. "My skirt is ruined."

Fate followed, trying to beat the soot out of her long twintails. "Tell me about it," she grumbled. "They could at least put in some cleaning magic."

Arf, in her puppy form, shook herself clean and whined mournfully.

The two girls carried their supplies in a pair of TSAB issue duffle bags. Using a variation of sealing magic, the duffles held the more delicate supplies in protective stasis for the trip and eliminated the necessity of the bulky trunks favored by the British wizards.

The time difference worked against the Japanese witches, however, and they were nearly too late. They hurried onto the train, Arf on their heels, moments before it left the station.

Inside was very different than the commuter trains they were used to in Japan. There were compartments with benches rather than just seats lining the wall, and no standing room to speak of. It was more comfortable, better suited for the longer journey they decided. "I guess we should find a room," Nanoha said.

It turned out most of the rooms were full (or occupied by older students that refused to be seen with Nanoha and Fate). The girls became keenly aware that they were the youngest children on the train, and thus among the shortest. Finally they found a cabin that was neither full nor barred, where they saw a familiar face. "Harry?" Nanoha asked.

Harry looked over and smiled. "Nanoha, Fate! I was wondering if you were here. Oh, this is my friend, Ron. Ron, this is Nanoha, and the blonde behind her is Fate."

Pleasantries were exchanged and finally the girls sat down. "How have you been, Harry?" Fate asked.

"Never better, now that I won't be seeing my aunt, uncle, or cousin for months," Harry said with a huge smile.

Fate smiled back to hide her flinch. [Tell me that counts as confirmation.]

[I think it just means we have more evidence,] Nanoha replied.

"Say, where's Arf?" Harry asked. "I thought she said she'd be here."

Arf jumped up into Fate's lap. "Hi, Harry," she said.

Harry and Ron stared. "Wizard," Ron whispered. "How'd you get that dog to talk?"

"Arf is my familiar," Fate said.

"You're lucky," Ron declared, digging into his robes. He pulled out a rat. "This is Scabbers. Pathetic, isn't he?"

Nanoha shook her head. "Oh, he could be so cute though. I once had a pet ferret…" for some reason the boys didn't understand this set the two girls into a fit of giggles.

Eventually an old lady came by with a trolley laden with food Nanoha and Fate instantly categorized as junk. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked.

Ron held up some rather unhappy looking sandwhiches. "No thanks, I'm set."

Harry, meanwhile, ran to the trolley with a galleon, determined to get his money's worth. "The Dursleys wouldn't give me any food," he explained. He didn't notice Fate twitch at this revelation.

Nanoha and Fate had packed some bentos, and with the time difference they were not hungry yet anyway. However, mature for their ages or not, cultural upbringing or not, there is only so much temptation a pair of ten year olds can handle. A few sickles out of their salaries turned into a pastry apiece and a small selection of candies to match Harry's. Within a few minutes, however, who had bought what was forgotten and the four were happily swapping, tasting, and experimenting with the strange confections like the excited, sugar-high children they were.

Ron turned to Scabbers again, dragging him out of a box of every-flavor beans. "George gave me a spell to turn him yellow, but I haven't managed it yet. Want to see?"

Harry seemed eager to see magic, while Nanoha and Fate were more intent in analyzing the magic as it occurred and quietly set their devices to record. They were horrified when Ron's wand came into view, battered and beaten, the unicorn tail hair sticking out the end.

* * *

"So you've learned some about our wands, Mari?" Nanoha asked. They were in the ship's repair bay, a few days before they were to report to the train station and head to Hogwarts.

Mariel Atenza turned to look at Nanoha. "You two always give me the weirdest cases," the green-haired tech accused. "First Belkan cartridge systems, now these wands. What's next, a pocket-sized arc-en-ciel?"

"So they're powerful?" Fate asked.

Mari shook her head. "Not exactly. They seem very similar to storage devices. Very efficient reaction to raw magical power, extremely limited capacity to act on its own. But they don't shape magic as effectively as our devices."

"Really?" Nanoha asked. "That would make high energy spellcasting a problem."

"Exactly," Mari agreed. "The usual geometries are not present either. The entire structure is magically reactive, the wood and core carefully balanced to focus magic. It looks like the wizards use intent and ritual, probably a uniform set of spells if those texts of yours are any judge, to control their magic. You shouldn't have a problem with it, but make sure your wands don't get damaged. You should never use a wand that has its internal structure altered; it won't focus magic the right way."

"Can our devices help?" Fate asked.

Mari wavered a bit on the question. "Coding up a geometry that can emulate a wand should be easy enough," she said at last, "but you'll burn through more power that way. On the other hand, with Raising Heart and Bardiche doing the casting with you, the spell would almost never backfire."

"No better or worse, just different," Nanoha concluded.

Mari nodded. "For now, anyway. I'm meeting Ollivander next month. Once I know more about these wands, I'll be able to make a much better emulation program."

* * *

Nanoha watched Ron wave his mangled wand and prayed he wasn't about to blow them all up. Fortunately, it was quickly apparent that he had no idea what he was doing, and his magic had decided not to try and help him in the endeavor. After a few dejected swings, Ron put his wand away.

Just then a bushy haired girl with rather prominent buck teeth stuck her head in. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost his," she said in a rather bossy tone. They noticed she was already in her robes.

Nanoha took a moment to process what the girl had said. "Toad? I don't think so."

Fate shook her head. "I haven't seen a toad."

Ron soothed his wounded pride by biting the head off a chocolate frog.

"I see," the girl said. "Well…are you Harry Potter?"

Harry started slightly. "What? I mean, uh, yes?"

"Oh I've read all about you," the girl gushed. "You're in at least three of the extra books I picked up after I finished reading our class books. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

Ron choked at this announcement while Harry just looked stunned. "I'm in books?"

"Not really," Nanoha said. "You were mentioned in four of the history books Fate bought back in July, but they didn't really say anything more than you were orphaned, got that scar, and Voldemort hasn't been seen since…why is everyone looking at me?"

"You said his _name_," Ron squeaked.

Fate rolled her eyes. "We don't really get the whole You-Know-Who thing," she said. "Isn't that just giving him an even more cumbersome name than the one he chose for himself?"

Ron's mouth worked for a few moments. "I…I guess? Wait, you mean you picked up more books _too_?"

"Not like that," Nanoha waved off. "We just had them transcribed into a computer so we could look up some historical facts quickly if we needed to."

"What's a computer?" Ron asked.

Nanoha and Fate stared at him, at least as shocked as Ron had by their casual use of Voldemort's name.

"Oh I hope you didn't bring it with you," Hermione said. "Electricity doesn't work in Hogwarts. I read it in _Hogwarts, a History_."

Nanoha frowned. "You mean most electronic devices don't work," she clarified. "Electricity can't not work. The school would explode."

Hermione frowned. "But the book said…"

"The book was wrong," Fate interrupted flatly, drawing a gasp from Hermione. "Electricity is part of what holds matter together. If it did stop working the school would…I don't know what would happen but it would be very, very bad."

Hermione looked scandalized. "But…why would the book be wrong?"

"Did you happen to pick up a Muggle Studies textbook?" Nanoha asked. "We're only ten, and Fate and I found at least three mistakes a page. Mom found lots more. Wizard science is rather primitive."

"You're only ten?" Hermione asked. "Why are you enrolling young?"

"Oh man, I gotta tell Ginny about this," Ron snickered. "She'll go bonkers."

Nanoha blushed slightly. "Well, Fate and I are sorta really good at a different kind of magic, so Dumbledore thought we could start early."

"A different kind of magic?" Hermione asked eagerly. "Can I see?"

Nanoha looked to Fate and shrugged. "Why not?" She stood up and cupped one hand, palm up. A magic circle sprung up at her feet, surprising everyone but Fate.

"What are you going to do?" Fate asked.

Nanoha smiled. "Well, you were looking for a toad, so," three balls of pink light formed in her hand and floated out the door. "Area search!" The balls exploded into streaks of light that shot down the train's corridor.

Nanoha looked to Hermione only a second later. "The toad you're looking for is at the front of this car, under the sink of the second bathroom on the left." She smiled. "It's good he was pretty close."

Hermione stared and stumbled back. "Um…I'll go get him then," she said faintly.

Ron stared at Nanoha. "How'd you do that?"

Fate smiled. "I'd say that was a simple spell, but three searchers without assistance? Just how much training are you going through, Nanoha?"

Nanoha shrugged. "Enough."

"Training?" Harry asked. "You mean like lessons and stuff?"

"Some," Nanoha admitted. "But there's no substitute for practice."

The door to the compartment opened again and three boys walked in. The smallest was the blonde from the tailor, the other two had the look of gorillas – big, mean, and stupid. "Who cast that pink spell?" the blonde asked. He looked around, eyes resting on Harry's scar with an intent stare. "It was you, wasn't it? Harry Potter, right?"

"Yes, I mean, I'm Harry, but that wasn't my spell," Harry protested.

"It was mine," Nanoha put in.

The blonde turned on her. "You were at Malkin's," he remembered. "What's your surname?"

"My name's Nanoha Takamachi. What's yours?" Nanoha asked sweetly.

"Takawhat?" the boy asked, confused. "I've never heard of a wizarding family called Takami…Takimach…"

"Ta-ka-ma-chi," Nanoha pronounced. "And as far as I know, my family isn't wizarding."

The boy scowled. "_Oh_," he sneered. He turned his attention back to Harry. "Then let this be your first lesson in the ways of the wizarding world, Harry," he said, attempting to be friendly. "Some wizarding families are better than others, and you don't want to be caught with a mongrel girl if you can help it. I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. These are Crabbe, Goyle. Three of the finest wizarding families you could find. We can help you make the right sort of friends." He offered his hand.

Harry looked at the hand like it was a snake ready to bite him, only not as wholesome. "I think I can find the right sort myself, thanks," he said coolly.

Draco's hand fell along with his face. "Careful, Potter. Your parents made the same mistake. Wouldn't want history to repeat itself."

"It's time for you to leave," Fate said suddenly, standing up.

Malfoy turned and sneered at the little girl. "No, I don't think so. You haven't even offered us a snack yet," he mocked.

Crabbe chuckled darkly and reached for an uneaten pastry. His hand never reached it. "Set up," Fate said quietly.

"Assault form get set," Bardiche announced, his axe head coming down on Crabbe's hand, too gentle to bruise but he'd feel it for a while.

"What is that thing?" Draco yelped.

"Axel mode standby ready," Raising Heart announced. Nanoha stood by Goyle.

Draco's demeanor crumbled quickly in the presence of the devices. The white and gold staff was more strange than intimidating, but the black axe wasn't something he wanted to tangle with so close in. "You'll regret this," he said darkly. "All of you." They stormed out quickly.

"That was bloody brilliant," Harry said. Ron nodded his agreement.

The two Devices vanished back into their standby forms and Fate and Nanoha looked at the boys sheepishly. "I think we might have overdid it," Nanoha said.

"Don't worry, my master," Raising Heart soothed.

"So what were those things anyway?" Ron asked.

"They're sort of like wands for that other style of magic we use," Nanoha explained. "They're called devices."

After a couple minutes they realized they had to be getting close and decided to change into their robes, first the boys then the girls with the other politely waiting outside.

While the boys were waiting, Hermione returned. "Well it's good that you are finally in your robes," she sniffed, "but what's this about fighting? Are you trying to get in trouble before we even get there?"

Harry scowled at the bossy girl. "What's it matter to you?" he snapped. "Besides, we weren't fighting."

"Well that's good then," Hermione said. She glanced at Ron. "You have some dirt on your nose, did you know?" She was off before he could formulate an answer.

About six minutes later the train stopped and, as instructed, they left their luggage on the train. As they left, Nanoha nudged Fate. "These robes suit you," she said. "Black always was your color."

Fate smirked back. Other than the pink bows in her hair every bit of clothing either of them had on was black, including the ribbons she had given Nanoha so long ago. "I'm not so sure it suits you, though," she teased back.

Nanoha pouted cutely.

"First years!" a familiar voice bellowed. "First years, over here! If you've never been to Hogwarts before you belong o'er here! Y'all right there, Harry?" Hagrid swung a lamp high over his already towering figure, an impossible sight to miss. "Any more first years? All right, follow me!"

Nanoha and Fate didn't say much as they tried to follow the dark path. When they reached the boats, they joined Harry and Ron, hoping Arf wouldn't count as a fifth person in her puppy form. But they crossed the lake safely enough and were soon in the presence of the stern-faced Minerva McGonagall.

Nanoha and Fate listened intently to the introductory speech and the idea of Houses and, somewhat more relevant to the moment, Sorting. McGonagall was very vague about that and she heard a lot of whispered worries about what the Sorting really was. "Excuse me," she called, raising her hand. "Miss McGonagall?"

"It's Professor McGonagall," the teacher corrected sharply, but with interest in her eyes. "You have a question?"

"Sorry, Professor. Yes, what exactly is the Sorting Ceremony?"

McGonagall smiled. It was rare, very rare for a first year to have the constitution to speak up during this speech. Far from annoyed, she was quite pleased at the outspoken little girl. She was, after all, a teacher. It was not a profession that attracted those who disliked honest questions. "The Ceremony is quite simple. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, it will judge your personality and then announce the best fit for you. It is entirely safe."

This announcement caused a wave of calm, although a few students seemed worried, no doubt thinking about some embarrassing secrets.

Fate was not among them, although there was much of her past that she'd rather not have exposed. If this Sorting had any chance for exposure, it would have been banned by concerned parents long ago. So, as they filed into the Great Hall, Fate caught Nanoha's eye and smiled. [Enchanted to impress today, or always like this, do you think?] she asked silently.

[Always,] Nanoha said, even as Hermione unknowingly answered the question out of _Hogwarts, a History_. [As old as this castle is, it has to have lots of magic and secrets in it.]

[Sounds like it will be fun to explore,] Fate thought wistfully. [Mother…Presea built a magic playroom for Alicia. Lots of secret passages and hidden things. I…she loved playing in it.] Even after a year, Fate had trouble sorting out her memories from Alicia's. She might never figure it all out.

"Harlaown, Fate," McGonagall called, interrupting the silent reverie.

[Stay her, Arf,] Fate sent as she walked forward. She sat on the stool and then the hat was on her head, in her mind.

[Hmmm…interesting, most interesting. False memories? But so convincing, real enough that they shape you even though you know they're not real. Loyalty runs strong, so does bravery. And your mind, sharper than any I have seen in decades. Your magic demands it, I suppose. But where to put you?]

[I would not want Slytherin,] Fate sent to the hat.

[Oh? Not Slytherin, eh? No, you wouldn't do well there, you're much too selfless, even in your darkest hour. Gryffindor, maybe. The home of the brave. Does that appeal? A house full of friends willing to stand by you through the darkest of times? Ah, there it is. Yes, that's exactly where I'll put you. You belong in-] "RAVENCLAW!" the hat bellowed.

Fate blinked as the hat was taken out of her mind and off her head. She looked at the Ravenclaw table in mild surprise and headed over to an open seat. Arf joined her quickly.

Nanoha watched as Malfoy went to Slytherin with his cronies, Harry went to Gryffindor, and then finally McGonagall called, "Takamachi, Nanoha," without so much as a stutter to mess up the pronunciation. The hat settled on her head.

[Wha…what is this?] the hat said in her mind.

[Hm? Oh, sorry, just a training scenario,] Nanoha sent back. She was dogfighting three mages, four robot drones, and a dragon. [I chose a light one so I could focus better on the ceremony.]

[This is a light one?] the hat yelped. It was quiet while the hat tried to process Nanoha's memories, continually distracted by how the girl was effortlessly maneuvering in three dimensions and tracking her simulated enemies the whole while. It knew the magic creating the scenario wasn't giving her a kind of imaginary omniscience, although a more detailed analysis was beyond it. Like Fate, this was a girl whose mind could process multiple incredibly different, difficult challenges simultaneously.

Unlike Fate, the hat was getting a front row seat, and was getting freaked out by it. For all the questions it wanted to ask, it was intensely more interested in getting off the girl's head. "RAVENCLAW!" it bellowed.

Nanoha hadn't so much as flinched in her tactical sim, even while she grinned at the assembled school and ran to her friend at the Ravenclaw table.

"I was hoping we'd be in the same house," Fate said. "I'd be lonely otherwise."

Nanoha grinned. "You'd have Arf," she pointed out. "I'd just have to get by with telepathy."

"So you two know eachother?" a third year asked. "Where are you from anyway?"

"Uminari, Japan," Nanoha said.

"Really? What are you doing so far from home? Family just move?"

"No, Professor Dumbledore…recruited us, I guess."

"Really?" an older student, a fourth year asked. "Why'd he do that?"

"Time enough for those questions later," the third year said. "Dumbledore's about to give his speech."

Indeed, the elderly wizard stood up and opened his arms in greeting. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, and first years, welcome to our family. I would like to say a few words. However, I seem to have said them already. Let the feast begin."

Nanoha jumped as the bronze dishes on the Ravenclaw table filled with…she gave Fate a distressed look, to receive the same in turn. "I think we should have expected this." The chicken they could enjoy. The potatoes they could handle. The various steaks and chops were even tempting. But the sausages, bacon, and especially the various kinds of gravy being poured over everything and anything made the girls feel vaguely ill.

A Chinese Ravenclaw in the second year saw their dismayed looks from a few seats down and waved to get their attention. "Stick to the vegetables," she recommended, "go easy on the potatoes, and don't have more than one chop no matter what, at least until you get used to it." She passed a large salad bowl down their way. "And keep away from the Yorkshire puddings." She pointed at some unidentifiable roll-like things that neither girl planned on touching anyway.

"Thanks," Fate said, taking the bowl. "I'm Fate, this is Nanoha." She put a few chops on a plate and offered it to Arf. The carnivorous familiar attacked the meat with an enthusiasm not shared by her master.

"I'm Cho Chang," Cho introduced herself.

"Did you just move to England?" Nanoha asked.

Cho shook her head. "My father did, a few years before I was born. But he's always cooked for our family, so…" she gestures to the very English banquet wordlessly.

"I don't suppose we could talk the kitchen into learning how to make rice balls?" Nanoha asked hopefully, pulling a few scraps onto her plate. A plate of scalloped potatoes earned a few dubious prods before being passed over for boiled.

Cho laughed. "You've got my support," she said. "They come up with fish every once in a while, but we never see rice unless it's been mangled or mushed in something."

"Is the food just conjured or do they have a team of chefs?" Nanoha asked. She got a strange look and blushed. "My parents own a café."

"Oh," Cho said. "Um, a little of both I think. I mean they never run out."

Nanoha and Fate chatted with their new classmates idly while nibbling away at the meal. When the desert course came, the girls lit up and moved on the icecream with a ferocity that stunned the kids that figured they were just light eaters.

Dumbledore stood up again. "Now that we have all enjoyed our excellent feast, I have a few start of term notices. All students are reminded that the Dark Forest is forbidden to all. Additionally, our caretaker Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that no magic is to be used between classes in the corridors."

"The Dark Forest thing is serious," the third year next to Nanoha said. "Filch, though, his rules are pretty much don't let him catch you."

"Quidditch trials will be held in two weeks. Anyone interested should contact their Houses' captains. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Nanoha stiffened and looked to Fate. Fate looked to Cho. "Is he serious?" she asked.

Cho frowned. "He didn't say anything like that last year. I mean, there are dangers with the forest and the lake, but inside the castle? That's new."

"New to me, too," the third year added.

"But now it is time for bed. Prefects, escort the first years to their dormitories."

"Ravenclaw, follow us," an older boy called. "Ravenclaw first years, this way."

Nanoha, Fate, Arf, and a few other tired, excited, exhausted children followed the winding path through the castle to Ravenclaw Tower. At the top of a long staircase, the Prefect in the lead grasped an eagle doorknocker and rapped the wall twice in rapid succession.

The eagle's eyes blinked and it spoke. "What is the boggart's face?"

"A mirror," the Prefect answered. "Fear comes from within."

"Well reasoned," the eagle concluded. The wall swung open to reveal a large room with a blue carpet, high, domed ceiling, arched windows, bronze fixtures, and a mighty library. "This is the Ravenclaw Common Room," the Prefect announced. "As you have just seen, if you want to get in you will need to answer a riddle. If you cannot, then you wait for someone who can. Now, girls' dorms on the left, boys on the right, first years have the honor of the highest rooms this year. You'll find all your belongings have been brought up already."

Nanoha trudged up the stairs with Fate and two other girls, Padma Patil and Lisa Turpin. She smiled at the sight of her duffle on one of the four poster beds, cerulean curtains offering her privacy from the others. She noted that the British girls' trunks were doubling as dressers and decided that maybe the inconvenience on the train would have been worth it.

Padma glanced over at Nanoha shortly after getting changed into her pajamas. "What's that you have there?" she asked.

Nanoha glanced up from the device in her hand. "Hm? Oh, just a cell phone. I was emailing my mother back home."

Padma blinked in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Lisa saved her. "It's a muggle device that sends mail very quickly," she explained. "I'm a half blood myself; I've used one before. But I didn't bring it. How'd you get a signal all the way out here? How is it even working?"

Nanoha smiled. It was amazing what you could do with a working knowledge of alien magitech. "I modified it to use magic," she explained. "It won't handle phone calls without a real signal, but sending a text message is easy. Aaand…done. Well, I'm going to bed."

Nanoha drifted off to a dreamless sleep minutes after her head touched the pillow.

* * *

OMAKE – If Lindy hadn't adopted Fate yet.

McGonagall frowned slightly at the hat. That last Sorting had ended a tad abruptly. She'd seen hundreds pass under the hat's brim, but only a few times had the hat stiffened like that, almost all of them a hat stall, and those that weren't came close. Nanoha's Sorting had been…quick. Odd.

She took up the list again. "Testarossa, Fate."

"NO!" the hat shrieked, stopping Fate cold. "Not another one! Don't put me on the head of another one! You, girl, you can sort yourself! Where do you want to go?"

Fate blinked in confusion and half-gestured towards Nanoha. "With Nan-"

"RAVENCLAW!"

McGonagall stared at the hat, gaping in shock. "Are you sure?"

"Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw by Merlin's name RAVENCLAW!"

And thus was Fate Testarossa entered into history as the fastest Sorting ever performed at Hogwarts, with an estimated negative five seconds.


	5. Settling In

Chapter 5: Settling In

The first week at Hogwarts is usually a trying time for new students. A hundred forty-two staircases to learn, many with trick steps, at least as many corridors, doors, and passageways all with their own secrets, and of course the countless myriad ways an unfortunate student might piss off Argus Filch or the poltergeist, Peeves.

Nanoha and Fate found it all quaint.

The very first morning at Hogwarts, the two girls woke before dawn and summoned their devices. They flew out over the castle and steadied themselves for a twin Area Search spell. Firing untold numbers of search balls into the castle, the two quickly and efficiently mapped the school and made three important discoveries.

First, Filch keeps strange hours and reacts very, very badly to unidentified magic.

Second, they couldn't record or even calculate their coordinates for transmission to Lacrosse, and had to settle for establishing a new set of coordinates local to Hogwarts to make any sense of their findings. They chose the Great Hall as their zero-point.

Third, even after scanning the castle twice over, the girl's couldn't compile a complete map. There were too many blank spaces, places where they knew passages existed because they had already walked through them. By their reckoning, what should have been a comprehensive map of the castle's architecture only covered about a third of the actual castle, and that was only the easy to find, obvious bits. Fortunately, all the important rooms (other than the Ravenclaw Common Room) were on that map, no doubt by design.

"So anyone can learn how to get to their classes easily enough," Nanoha concluded.

"But you have to actually work at it to find the rest of the castle," Fate agreed.

Arf crossed her arms. "I just hope you two don't get in trouble for that stunt," she said. True to her word to Hagrid, Arf had designed a new barrier jacket for herself, a blue tunic and skirt combo over which she added a black robe with bronze trim. She'd changed the color scheme to match Ravenclaw the previous night, but the overall effect was that she neither stood out nor blended in – she was obviously not dressed as a student while not being so different that she could not be ignored.

"We should get back inside before we break curfew," Fate said.

"Yeah," Nanoha agreed.

If anyone had realized Fate and Nanoha had broken curfew, flown over the castle, and flooded it with magic spy spheres, they chose to keep it quiet. The big hit was Arf.

"She's your _familiar_?" Padma gaped. "But your familiar was a cute little puppy!"

Arf rolled her eyes and calmly transformed into the 'cute little puppy.' "Ta-dah," she said sarcastically.

"She's a familiar and an animagus?" Padma asked, even more confused.

"Ani-what?" Arf asked.

"A witch that can turn into an animal," Padma explained.

"Kind of like a werewolf?" Lisa asked.

Padma scowled. "No, well sorta. But werewolves are evil."

"We have a friend that can turn into a ferret," Nanoha said, "but Arf is a familiar. All familiars can do this."

Lisa looked at her cat in shock. "Really?"

"Where we come from," Fate explained, "familiars are animals that have been altered by magic. I made Arf from a dying wolf puppy."

"You're a wolf?" Padma asked, taking a step back and looking at Arf fearfully.

Arf wagged her tail and put on her cute face. "Yeah, but I don't bite or anything." Padma's heart melted in an instant.

Arf followed Fate around in her puppy form to her classes, but on her off hours Arf enjoyed her humanoid form and the novelty of having thumbs. The Ravenclaws got used to her within the week, but the other Houses were a little slower to accept the strange familiar. Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, decided to hate Arf on sight and the two animals could be found staring eachother down at least once a day.

Nanoha was out of sorts for the first few days – Lacrosse and her mother had both ordered her to cut back on her training regimen. She couldn't run combat sims on weekdays and she had to reduce the drain on her linker core by half. And as promised, both she and Fate used their devices' training function to take muggle lessons, including some introductory college level mathematics.

Peeves had the decided misfortune of meeting Nanoha two hours into her break from training. It was the very first day and she, Fate, Arf, and Lisa were heading to the Great Hall for breakfast (Padma took off on her own to hunt down her newly Gryffindored sister). Their isle chatter was interrupted by a shriek from Lisa as a water balloon burst on her head.

Peeves appeared just above them, several more balloons in hand, cackling. "Heeheehee, ickle Ravenclaw should watch where she's going if she doesn't want to get wet."

"That was rather mean," Fate observed.

"Jerk," Arf agreed.

Peeves responded with a few more balloons, which burst on a pink Round Shield spell. Fate looked to Nanoha and saw a vaguely manic expression on her friend's face. "I'll let you take care of him, Nanoha," Fate said nervously. She pulled Lisa back, dragging the shocked halfblood clear of the White Devil's impromptu exercise.

"Ooo, magic in the hallways," Peeves jeered. "Ickle firstie's in trouble already. Good!" He threw more water balloons, hoping to get Nanoha to do more magic and get in more trouble when Filch showed up. He wasn't disappointed; another circle formed around Nanoha's feet, a massive one. And then Nanoha moved.

Nanoha often thought of herself as a bit more brute than Fate. She wasn't as agile, wasn't as fast, but she had raw power to spare and a real knack for splitting her attention with homing spells. As Peeves was finding out, though, Nanoha's opinion of herself suffered because of the very high standard set by her best friend. Every balloon Peeves threw missed, sometimes by less than an inch, sometimes by a foot. Nanoha danced inside her circle, completely untouchable by the surprised poltergeist. He had a lot of balloons, though. Nanoha couldn't last forever.

And she had no intention to. "Divine Shooter!" Nanoha called out in the middle of spinning away from a near miss. When her left hand came back into sight there was a ball of pink energy resting on it. "Shoot!"

Peeves could probably have dodged Nanoha's usual Divine Shooter, but Nanoha was still adjusting to the lowered drain on her magic she had been forced into. She had a lot more power than she was used to, and the magic bullet exploded off her hand and caught Peeves in the face before anyone could so much as blink. Peeves hit the ground, hard.

Filch came running. "Who's that using magic in the corridors?" he bellowed. "You! You three! You stay where you are, and your little dog too! What are you doing…here? Peeves?"

The poltergeist hacked up something that might have been a raspberry.

Filch stared at the downed specter and turned slowly to Nanoha. "Did…did you do…_that_?"

Nanoha nodded. "Yeah. I'm really sorry for disobeying, but he attacked us and I sorta lost my head."

"Hmph. Well, don't do it again. Now go'wan, all of you. Your breakfast is getting cold."

Hell froze over as Filch actually let a student off the hook. It thawed off again as he turned on Peeves with a look of manic glee at the thoughts of what he would do to the incapacitated spirit.

* * *

Peeves recovered before Filch could make use of those plans, but he never again bothered the Demon of Ravenclaw.

* * *

Classes were interesting. A self-taught mage, Nanoha had thought the most important thing to teach would be tactics for using magic or training to build up magical power, but the Professors focused extensively on getting the spells to come out properly. It wasn't hard to see why.

The Mid style and Belkan style used a magical geometry to focus their spells and devices to handle the worst of the calculations on the fly. Developing spells was relatively easy in such a system, making it versatile enough to support a multidimensional economy on the backs of civilian mages that focused on things other than who can blast who the hardest.

In contrast, the wizard style used no such shortcut. Wizard magic was all about focusing raw magic by will and ritual. Spells had to be perfected to be reliable, a long and difficult process in development. That also created a steep learning curve.

Fate _had_ been taught as a mage before, but Lilith had tutored her personally. An organized class, lacking the individual attention, was just something she had no experience with. The differences were staggering.

Transfigurations was first. Professor McGonagall was Head of Gryffindor House, but she seemed to get along with Ravenclaws well enough. While her animagus skills were nearly identical to Yuuno's magic, Nanoha and Fate really had nothing in their personal repertoire to compare the class to. The first assignment, turning matches into needles, struck Nanoha and Fate as an odd choice. However, as they worked at it, they slowly realized that casting a successful wizard spell was more about intent and vision than they had assumed. Even without a mathematical framework, their spells would develop basic principles using seemingly trivial exercises that later spells, useful spells, would build on.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was something Nanoha looked forward to with her training curtailed, but she was quickly disappointed. Professor Quirrell explained the few spells they'd be learning, most of them classified as jinxes, and went right into the accepted classifications of spells into jinx, hex, and curse, as well as covering a few charms with a good application in defense. However, while the class promised to add some interesting spells to Nanoha and Fate's repertoire, the quickly realized many of these were impractical given the range of binding and barrier spells they already knew. Without a single mention of tactics, the class was nearly as boring as History of Magic.

The third wanded class was Charms, which the Ravenclaws shared with Gryffindors. The larger class size threw them for a moment, but Professor Flitwick was by far the most interesting teacher they had, as well as the only adult they could look in the eye. It quickly became apparent to the young mages that "Charms" covered practically any kind of spell imaginable that was not aggressive or fundamentally altered a given object in some way. The two took careful notes of what kinds of Charms were considered ordinary or common, and which had a bit of a more exotic cast.

Of the classes without wands, History of Magic was the most promising. Books only told so much of the story, after all, and they _were_ here to learn about wizarding culture and report back to the TSAB. However, the class quickly became the single most pointless waste of time either girl had ever been exposed to. Professor Binns had probably bored himself to death and decided to make a good run on his students. Nanoha and Fate took diligent notes, but they tended to focus on their devices during those classes, paying more conscious attention to the lessons of math and science provided by their support crew (who were also disappointed that the class was so ineptly mishandled).

Astronomy was held at night, naturally, and became yet another source of frustration for the unusually knowledgeable mages. On one hand, their star charts were competitive with the NEWT standard in terms of completeness. On the other hand, the vast majority of the names they knew were taken from MidChildan sources, and the rest from Japanese classes. Professor Sinestra was remarkably unimpressed as the two let slip that one of the planets around Alpha Centauri was called Castiana and was known for its giant sand monsters.

Herbology was probably going to be the most horrible, as it was another double-House class…with Slytherin. They gathered in a greenhouse behind the castle and met Professor Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff. "Welcome to Greenhouse two, First Years," she called, "and your first Herbology lesson. Now, today we'll be tending a batch of mushrooms I've been cultivating for twelve years."

"What kind of mushrooms?" a Ravenclaw named Terry Boot asked.

"Nothing you'd want to put on your steak," Sprout said with a laugh. "Most people call these stinkcaps."

"Sounds lovely," Malfoy sneered.

Sprout nodded. "Herbology isn't the study of plants that are pretty – although we'll cover a few that are – but the plants that are useful or dangerous. Better you know how to avoid a devil's snare than how to grow a prize winning daisy. Since you're new at this, we'll keep to plants that are safe and useful." She pulled a tray of black soil out from under the table, tiny brown dots growing all over it. "Now, who can tell my why stinkcaps are useful? Yes, what's your name?"

"Michael Corner," a Ravenclaw said. "My mum uses them to treat cuts and scrapes."

"Excellent, three points for Ravenclaw," Sprout congratulated. "The oils of a stinkcap stop bleeding quickly, a very useful trait indeed. Now you'll each be growing your own batch for the next two weeks, after which Professor Snape will have you make a more effective ointment from them. Now, get yourselves a pot and line up."

Nanoha got a pot and walked to the line only to be rudely, and painfully, elbowed in the ribs by a large boy…Crabbe. "Out of the way," he snarled. "This is Malfoy's place."

Malfoy walked up slowly from behind Nanoha and sneered at her, deliberately speaking softly enough that Sprout couldn't hear. "Let the mudblood pass, Crabbe. Scrabbling in the dirt's work for her kind, anyway."

Nanoha had no idea what 'mudblood' was supposed to mean, but she knew a racial slur when she heard one. [Raising Heart, record and transmit.] "Mudblood?" she asked curiously, an edge in her voice.

Goyle laughed. "That's you," he said.

"Now, Goyle, let's be _kind_," Malfoy sneered. "We can't expect the mongrels to know their place right off. It's not like they're _real_ wizards after all."

Nanoha's eyes narrowed. "You don't like me because my parents aren't mages."

Malfoy gasped dramatically. "A mudblood shows signs of intelligence. Quickly, Goyle, alert the _Prophet_."

"What's going on back there?" Sprout called out harshly.

"Nothing, Professor!" Malfoy said, his expression the soul of innocence. "Vincent, Greg and I were just helping Miss Takamachi with her English."

Sprout nodded. "Ah, well, that's gentlemanly of you I'm sure. Take a point for your courtesy, but don't hold up a line in my class again."

Malfoy's face blossomed into delight. "Yes, Professor!"

Nanoha went up to scoop out her mushrooms and dirt and Sprout leaned in a bit closer. "And I'll be taking off two points for embarrassing you like that, from each of them," she whispered.

Nanoha smiled. "Thank you, Professor." She headed back to her place and watched with some satisfaction as Sprout whispered to each boy in turn, their expressions falling one by one. By the time they returned to their places, the glares they sent at Nanoha were as black as their cloaks.

[End transmission,] Nanoha sent her device. [I don't think they'll appreciate outsiders much with this kind of attitude. We'll need to bring that up to Dumbledore.]

[Maybe it's a minority opinion?] Fate suggested. [Malfoy's been the only one to give you a hard time about it.]

[Perhaps…ugh. These mushrooms _stink_.]

Fate burst out into giggles, startling the other students near her. The tension broken, the rest of the class went...as well as any class involving eye-watering stench can go.

The last regular class on the first years' schedule was Potions. Surprisingly it took place in the dungeons, even more surprisingly was that a room with no apparent ventilation was in no danger of asphyxiating anyone with the smoke and odors of potion making. The room was poorly lit, while at the same time not so poorly as to interfere with cauldron work. The walls were decorated with what Nanoha and Fate dearly hoped were potion ingredients; otherwise Professor Snape had an unhealthy fascination with dead animal bits floating in some kind of brine.

Snape started with a roll call and then gave his introduction. "Potion making is an art," he said simply. "It is subtle in its particulars and exacting in its demands. You will take hold of your wands only rarely and speak incantations never, thus many of you will think this not magic at all. For those of you with the disposition, however," his quiet voice turned wistful, "you will learn how to bottle wisdom, brew strength, and even put a stopper in death." He let that last word hang in the still air for a moment. "Assuming that you are not dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Fate and Nanoha exchanged a look and glanced around to see additional confusion on the assembled Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff class.

Snape began a rapid-fire interrogation of the classroom, asking seemingly random questions about plants, potions, and ingredients. Ultimately only one Ravenclaw, Terry, managed to catch a question he could answer – monkshood and wolfsbane are in fact the same plant. "Well," Snape concluded with a sneer, "I see you are not all so worthless. One point from Hufflepuff for your incompetence. Now on to today's potion. You are all in pairs already," he flicked his wand towards a chalk board and words appeared on it, "and there are your instructions. This is a simple cream to cure boils – follow the directions exactly."

Nanoha and Fate tried not to gag as they stewed slugs and crushed snake fangs. "This is a curative?" Fate whispered dubiously.

"Indeed, Harlaown," Snape said, seemingly materializing over them. "Where are your quills?"

"We haven't fetched them yet," Fate said quickly. "The instructions say not to add them until the cauldron is off the fire, which is at least five minutes away. We didn't want to risk getting them mixed up with the nettles."

Snape blinked once and sneered. "Prudent. I would hope a vaunted Ravenclaw could tell the difference between them, however."

Nanoha gave the cauldron another stir with her wand. "The potion has turned purple and isn't bubbling," she said, partly to herself and partly for Snape's benefit. "Now we add the fangs and stir…should I continue stirring while we add the fangs? It says to stir exactly so many times, but if the potion is still in motion the fangs will spread out faster."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "Stir once, slowly, while adding the fangs," he answered quickly. "An impressive intuition, Takamachi. Harlaown, why aren't you adding the fangs?"

Nanoha and Fate traded a glance of confusion as Snape wandered off to terrorize someone else. Over the remainder of class it became clear that Snape favored Nanoha, but for everything she did right he found a fault with Fate. In the end, Nanoha had managed to earn a single point (their potion was good enough for the infirmary to use), Fate had lost them a point (they still didn't know why), and Padma had lost Ravenclaw a second point (she added too many nettles and her cauldron turned into a block of ice).

"What was that all about?" Fate asked once they were out of earshot of the dungeon.

"Snape's Head of Slytherin," Padma grumbled. "He only ever gives points to them, or someone that he favors. What did you do, Nanoha?"

Nanoha shrugged helplessly. "I just treated it like cooking. My parents own a café, so I'm pretty good at following a recipe."

"Loads of us followed the recipe," Terry objected.

Nanoha shrugged helplessly. The only thing she could think of was asking a question, but that wasn't enough, was it?

* * *

The Friday ending of the first week gave Nanoha and Fate reason to pause. Professor Dumbledore sent them a letter at breakfast requesting their presence at a small meeting. The letter didn't go into detail, but it was obvious they'd be discussing their respective kinds of magic.

Fate and Nanoha went to the named classroom after dinner. It was a little beyond the areas of the castle they had mapped, at the end of a corridor on the fourth floor, accessible only through a door hidden behind a stone witch that shuffled to the side when asked politely. Obviously the Headmaster wanted their meeting to be discreet.

Dumbledore was already in the small classroom when they arrived, as was Professor Flitwick. "Nanoha, Fate," he greeted warmly. "How are you enjoying your classes?"

"Very well, Professor," Nanoha answered brightly. "There's a great deal more to learn than I had thought."

"Spoken like a true Ravenclaw," Flitwick observed, smiling. "You know the two of you have already made a bit of names for yourselves among your peers. No one has ever cowed Peeves so quickly."

"The search magic you used caught some attention, also," Dumbledore added.

Nanoha blinked. "You know about that?"

"You were very considerate to cast the spell so early," Dumbledore said. "Regardless, a few people were awake…"

"Mr. Filch," Fate supplied.

"And a few others," Dumbledore agreed, "who came to me afterwards reporting the unidentified magic. The two of you have gotten lost less frequently than any students I can remember."

"The castle does seem to rearrange itself sometimes," Nanoha admitted.

"Indeed it does," Dumbledore agreed. "Particularly where secrets are concerned. Even I am not sure I have walked every corridor."

"We think we mapped about a third of the castle," Nanoha said. "Those parts don't seem to move."

"Impressive," Dumbledore said honestly. "Could I persuade you to give a demonstration?"

Nanoha shrugged and called Raising Heart to her hand. "I don't see why not."

Flitwick's eyes widened as he took in the Device. "My goodness, what is that?"

"Hm?" Nanoha asked. "Oh, this is the first time you've seen her, isn't it? This is Raising Heart, my Intelligent Device. She's kinda like a wand for our style of magic."

"Oh," Flitwick said softly, clearly trying to connect the few dots of information he had to figure out which of his many questions he should ask next.

"Now, you wanted to see an Area Search," Nanoha said. She swung Raising Heart in a half circle, a Mid Circle forming around her as she did. "I'll search the grounds outside, 'kay?"

"That would be acceptable," Dumbledore said.

"Load Cartridge - Wide Area Search," Raising Heart announced. A gust of steam and a spent cartridge jumped out of her magazine, much to the professors' surprise. The large red gem pulsed brightly several times and then seemed to explode into a shower of pink streaks. The magic passed through the windows of the classroom and spread out to cover the whole of the Hogwarts grounds.

Nanoha closed her eyes and frowned. "Hmmm…three Slytherins, two Hufflepuffs, and a Gryffindor near that weird stadium. Four more on broomsticks in the air. Another seventeen students spread out on the grounds. One of them was pushed into the lake by some older Slytherins. Hagrid's in his home with Harry and Ron. He's offered them rocks that they are pretending to eat for some reason, and discussing a bank robbery in the paper. Beyond that is the forest, nothing much of interest the first twenty meters in…"

"Stay out of the forest," Dumbledore said quietly, but firmly.

"Erk, kinda late for that," Nanoha said, dropping the spell. "Sixty meters in I think I startled a herd of centaurs."

"That quickly?" Flitwick asked. "How does this spell work?"

"I can see and hear wand whatever from each ball the spell creates," Nanoha answered. "Just like I was really there. Maybe a bit better."

"But…there were over a dozen balls," Flitwick protested.

"Twenty-two, actually," Nanoha said.

"You were processing nearly two dozen separate perspectives?" Dumbledore asked. When Nanoha nodded he leaned back. "How can you handle it all?"

"Raising Heart helps a lot," Nanoha said. "She puts it all together and cuts out useless details, like what the grass looks like."

"And that circle?" Flitwick prompted.

Nanoha formed the circle again. "It's the projection of a seven dimensional fractal," she explained. "The runes describe the other five dimensions. All spells are built out of that one equation."

Dumbledore nodded to himself and decided he'd need to talk to Professor Vector about the limits of such a system. "Where did you learn all of this?" he asked. "The 'Time-Space Administration' you mentioned to the Obliviators?"

"Nyahaha, yeah," Nanoha laughed nervously. "I figured out a lot of it on my own, though."

"I was taught by my…nanny, is that the word?" Fate asked.

"A woman who raised you as a child when your parents were unavailable?" Flitwick supplied.

Fate nodded. "Yes, that's it. She also made Bardiche for me. That's the name of my Device."

"And where is this Administration?" Dumbledore asked.

"Mid-Childa," Nanoha said. "It's a planet really far away from here." She still wasn't quite sure if dimensional travel had distances the way they were familiar with, but it was a good enough answer for now.

"Another planet?" Dumbledore asked. "That would be where those things you told Professor Sinestra came from?"

Fate nodded. "The incident last December spilled over onto nearby worlds," she explained.

"Could you get in touch with the Administration if you needed to?" Dumbledore asked.

Nanoha looked to Fate and frowned. "I'm not sure we should answer that," she said. "The TSAB calls this an Unadministered World – they want to stay out of local affairs."

Dumbledore nodded and connected a few dots. Most likely his strangest students not only could contact this TSAB, but they were in contact _right now_. The Wizarding World was being explored, maybe even judged, by a pair of ten year old girls. He smiled. "Well, I suppose I had best let you go back to your House. I would like to see you both again, discuss your magic further." Though phrased politely, it was not a question.

Nanoha smiled brightly. "Sure!" She bowed with Fate and the two left.

* * *

Author's Note: On the matter of Houses

Nothing in the House of Ravenclaw favors "knowledge for knowledge's sake" or even _knowledge_ at all. Ravenclaw favors what could be somewhat clumsily termed "skill at thinking." Nanoha's training regimen and her unique strengths as a mage are almost all centered on her ability to process multiple perspectives at once – keeping the training program up during normal activities, controlling a large number of shots simultaneously, tracking a complex battlefield and predicting opponents accurately enough to evade in three dimensions, so on. Looking to the future, she chooses to be a combat instructor. While this does involve a large amount of training, Teana's victory at the climax of StrikerS came about by out-thinking her opponents, a skill she did not have at the beginning of the series.

Fate does not have the same skills as Nanoha and is a weaker choice for Ravenclaw, but she also lacks the heavy training that would get her in to Hufflepuff. And any MidChildan style mage is automatically a candidate for Ravenclaw; their magic requires a deep understanding of mathematics which in turn demands the critical thinking and logic skills prized by Ravenclaw. Thus Fate is a toss between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. However, when the Hat prompted Gryffindor, Fate's reaction was not favorable. I leave _why_ as an exercise to the reader. What, you think I'll give you all the answers?

A side note, on the nature of loyalty. While Nanoha and Fate have a close personal bond, that bond was very hard-won. They have both disobeyed Admiral Lindy when it suited their personal sense of right and wrong; loyalty in the abstract is not a driving force for them. All the Houses can attract people capable of deep friendships, so I didn't pay much mind to this when picking Houses.


	6. Flying

Chapter 6: Flying

The next week, a new subject for first-years only caught the imaginations of the Japanese trio: flying. Their new friend Cho proved very knowledgeable in the subject.

"You're kidding," Fate declared quietly.

"No way," Nanoha agreed. "Broomsticks?"

Cho nodded and offered a savage smile. "They're a lot faster than those carpets you use in Asia. Just wait, when you see a game of quidditch you'll wonder how you ever got along with those beaters."

Nanoha and Fate traded a glance and looked back to the witch. "What's quidditch?" Nanoha asked.

Cho's eyes widened. "You've never even heard of quidditch?" she asked. "It's our sport. I know Japan has a team for the World Cup, not that they've won in centuries. Even the Americans trounced them."

"And it involves broomsticks?" Nanoha asked, picturing some kind of ridiculous game in her head that unknowingly had a fair resemblance to curling.

Cho nodded and launched into an animated description of seven players, four balls, two teams, rules, and very nearly lost the two girls several times because of all the unfamiliar jargon. "I'm going to try out for Seeker," Cho said excitedly. "The last one graduated and I know I can outfly everyone else. Besides," she says with a slight frown, "the Ravenclaw team isn't that good. Standards are pretty low for getting in."

"Do you think we could?" Fate asked idly. Could be fun.

Cho shook her head. "First years can't have brooms, and you've never flown. Standards aren't THAT low."

Nanoha grinned sheepishly. "Just as well. I'm not that good at sports."

Arf looked away from the schedule for a moment. "Gryffindor and Slytherin have their lesson today," she announced. "You've both got History then, so I think I'll watch."

Cho grinned. "Hoping for a crash?" she laughed.

Fate smiled. "Thank you, Arf. Keep us up to date, would you?"

"Of course!"

* * *

[Pretty boring so far,] Arf sent. [They're standing next to their broomsticks shouting 'up.' Harry got his on the first try, it nearly unbalanced him.]

[That's not boring,] Nanoha protested. Anything would be a welcome distraction from Binn's lecture. [I knew it when I first spotted him, that boy was born to fly!]

[You did not,] Fate sent tauntingly, shooting her friend a brief glance. [You're getting to be as bad as Hayate with these tall tales, Nanoha.]

[Mou, Fate-chan's being mean to me,] Nanoha offered dramatically.

Binns blinked slightly at the sound of two girls giggling. Why Ropdunk the Vaguely Inebriated's second war against Magical Britain was amusing he'd never know, but at least they were paying attention.

[They're about to start flying and…there they go! Well, there Longbottom goes. The teacher's trying to…uh oh. He's going too high. He's slipping!]

[Catch him!] Fate ordered.

[Right!] Arf sent.

Nanoha and Fate shared a tense moment.

[Got him!] Arf sent. Nanoha and Fate sagged in relief. They didn't know who Longbottom was, but that really wasn't important. [I had to use the net circles,] Arf explained, referring to the layered circle spell that was commonly employed to safely catch a falling mage. [That was apparently flashy enough that we'll be bogged with questions again…oh you're kidding me!]

[What happened?] Fate asked.

[The teacher tried to recall the broom by canceling its flight spell and it landed on Neville's head. He's concussed.]

Nanoha and Fate stared blankly at eachother. [Which class do we have with them? Charms?] Fate gave a bit of a shiver. [At least it's not Potions or Herbology. With luck that bad he'd make a terrible mess.]

Nanoha nodded her agreement.

[Hooch has decided to take him to the infirmary and told me to make myself scarce, so I'm watching from the roof again,] Arf reported. [I think she didn't like that I rescued her student instead of her.]

[Maybe she had some spell to catch him and you messed it up?] Fate suggested. [It's not like we know a lot about how their magic works yet.]

[Maybe,] Arf agreed, her tone a bit sullen. Which, given how telepathy tended to sanitize inflections, meant she had a good sulk built up. [Anyway, looks like a couple kids decided to go flying anyway. Malfoy and Harry.]

[Harry knows how to fly?] Nanoha asked.

[Whoa, pretty well,] Arf sent. [Malfoy just threw something shiny. Harry made a perfect dive to catch it…and he's in trouble. McGonagall caught him, but not Malfoy. He's being lead away.]

Nanoha felt sorry for Harry, but she couldn't really do anything to help him. She listened to the rest of Arf's play by play somewhat half-heartedly, wondering what was going to happen to Harry.

* * *

News of Harry making the Gryffindor team spread through the school like wildfire less than an hour later. Much to the relief of the Mid-style trio, having the Boy Who Lived break a hundred year old recruiting limit on quidditch teams was almost enough to make the gossip circles forget about Aruf's rescuing Longbottom.

Almost. And unfortunately, the gossip decided to merge. As they found out at dinner.

"Eh!?" Nanoha gaped. "You want me to try out for the quidditch team!?"

Cho nodded furiously. "Absolutely! Potter already broke the tradition, right? It'll be easy to convince them!"

"But I've never flown on a broomstick!" Nanoha protested. "What about the standards?"

"Hang the standards!" Cho rolled her eyes. "I don't want you to play Seeker; that spot's _mine_. But I've heard about your DADA class. If you can stay of a broom at all, I'd bet you'd be great as Keeper."

Nanoha blushed. Quirrel had been teaching them a simple knockback jinx all week, and Nanoha had quickly been relegated to a level of defense proficiency normally occupied by one Neville Longbottom. She would flick her wand and something was bound to happen, but rarely what she was trying. It was only today that she managed to get the spell out as something that she could aim and direct reliably. Quirrel decided today would be a practical and set up floating balls of light as targets, slowly floating through the classroom. Nanoha started like her peers, aiming only at those she could see clearly, but once she had her aim down she amused herself by aiming at balls just within her peripheral vision and, occasionally, those she couldn't see at all but had been tracking and predicting.

"If you can fire a jinx at a target you can't see without singing your classmates, who you also can't see, you won't have any problems putting yourself between a quaffle and a goal hoop," Cho said with absolute certainty.

"But half the time my jinx goes wrong," Nanoha whined.

"That's true," Fate observed with a small smile. She didn't have Nanoha's knack for rapid aim, but on the other hand her jinx was among the five best of the year. Practice and diligent study paid dividends that raw talent didn't. "Three balls frozen in ice, seven set on fire, and one poor ball grew fur."

"So you're lousy with wandwork," Cho said dismissively, not noticing the black cloud over Nanoha. "That doesn't mean you can't catch a ball."

"Why don't we just see how flying goes tomorrow?" Fate offered.

Cho nodded a bit and let the matter drop, but that might have had to do with the commotion behind them. Ravenclaw's table sat between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, and they had happened to have sat on the side nearer Gryffindor. They knew Malfoy and his goons were harassing Harry, but the young (and loud) Weaseley's voice was the one they could hear. "Of course he has. I'm his second, who's yours?"

Now that he had their attention, Malfoy's voice was easy to pick out of the din. "Crabbe. Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."

Malfoy walked away and the Ravenclaw girls looked at eachother. "Did that sound to you like a," Nanoha asked, "a…a duel?"

Fate nodded. "They didn't sound serious about it, though," she said.

"They didn't?" Cho asked.

Nanoha thought back to when she and Fate had agreed to settle the Jewel Seeds over a single battle. "No," she said sadly, "a real battle sounds a lot different."

"Well it's not our concern," Cho said. "But we could get them in trouble and cost them some points."

Nanoha blinked. "I hadn't thought of that." They probably wouldn't get Ravenclaw any points for turning them in, but Gryffindor and Slytherin were the frontrunners. Any points they lost were good for the House of Wisdom. But… "I wouldn't feel right about it," Nanoha said at last. "We haven't really had a chance to talk to Harry much since the Sorting but he was still really nice when we first met."

"Yeah," Fate agreed. "He's not going to hurt anyone with that attitude of his. And I doubt Malfoy could hurt anyone without his goons. Why should we get him in trouble?"

"I guess you're right," Cho agreed. "It does kinda sound like something a Slytherin would do."

Nanoha and Fate nodded a bit before Nanoha stiffened. "No…" she whipped her head around but the boys were already gone. She turned back to her friends, face pale. "Don't you see? That's what a Slytherin **is** doing!"

* * *

[It really isn't our business,] Arf argued again. [You could get in trouble.]

[He's a friend, Arf,] Nanoha sent, shrugging off her nightgown and putting her robe back on.

[Right,] Fate said. Like Nanoha she was getting dressed as quietly as she could. [And that Malfoy is up to something.]

[Then let me look,] Arf pleaded. [I can't get into trouble for being out of bed, right?]

[Harry doesn't know you,] Nanoha pointed out.

[He doesn't really know any of us,] Arf countered.

[So it's a chance to get to know eachother better,] Nanoha sent.

Arf managed to make a telepathic noise somewhere between a scream and a sigh.

[Right, so it's settled,] Fate said. [Arf, you stay here and keep watch.]

The familiar grumbled but, ultimately, she was bound to follow Fate's lead. At least the only things on the line this time were the house points.

Nanoha and Fate made good time to the trophy room. They knew that it would be cutting things close to warn Harry off there, but for all their mapping they didn't have the foggiest notion where Gryffindor Tower was. So they settled for canvassing the room.

"No one's here," Nanoha said.

Fate sighed with relief. "Now we just have to make sure it stays that way for half an hour."

Nanoha nodded. "Think we should close the doors?"

Fate thought that over. "Well they're usually open, but it'll be a lot easier if we can seal up the room."

Nanoha nodded and ran to one door. She grabbed the handle and gave a mighty pull, then stopped in shock and stared. "Fate!" she hissed urgently. "Light!"

Fate abandoned her door and ran to Nanoha. "It's a lantern," she whispered. "Filch!"

Nanoha threw her back into closing the door. Fate joined in and they slammed the door before Filch could see them.

"Who was that!?" the caretaker's voice demanded. They heard footsteps running up the hallway.

"Oh no," Fate cried softly. "Now what?"

Nanoha extended one hand. "Round shield!" At her call a circle of pink magic formed against the closed door. When Filch tried to push it open only seconds later, the door hit the shield and stopped, not opening enough even to expose the tell-tale pink magic. Filch tried again, harder, and Nanoha winced under the strain. Shield spells were not supposed to stay active for long, and without an active device she wouldn't last, especially if Filch pulled out his wand. A third shove and the door opened a bit more.

Fate activated Bardiche to help her cast silently and placed her own shield on the door. She gestured emphatically and the yellow circle crashed into the pink and slammed the door fully shut again. She looked Nanoha in the eye and nodded once.

Nanoha smiled grimly and set herself in position again, left arm extended and right arm grabbing her left just above the elbow as she poured all the power she could into the shield.

Filch shoved his weight into the door repeatedly. "What the bloody hell did they do, put a trophy case in the way?" he muttered. It would take him three minutes to backtrack to another way in; they'd all be gone by then, the brats!

Nanoha and Fate heard more footsteps behind them and turned, frightened, but were quickly relieved to see not a teacher but Harry, Ron, and for some reason two other Gryffindors. Harry stared in shock. "Na-"

"No names!" Nanoha yelled. "Filch is behind the door!"

"What!?" the girl Gryffindor yelped. "Oh I told you, I told you Malfoy set you up! Why didn't you listen? You should have-"

"Save it!" Harry snapped. "RUN!"

The four Gryffindors ran out of the trophy room.

"Mission accomplished," Nanoha muttered. "Now what?"

"Barrier jacket, Sonic Form," Bardiche announced. Fate's robe vanished to reveal a thin leotard with small golden wings at her wrists and ankles.

Nanoha blushed slightly as Fate wrapped an arm around her but had no time to figure out why as they were suddenly hurtling through the corridors at a speed only Fate could handle. Needless to say, they caught up with Harry's gang of four pretty much instantly.

"Wha!" Ron yelped as Fate suddenly appeared among them, carrying Nanoha. "You can apperate?" he demanded through gasps for breath.

"Questions later," Fate said, putting Nanoha down. "Keep running!"

"We've got…a bit of…a lead," Harry wheezed. He saw a tapestry and in a fit of inspiration pushed it aside. "Passage!" he called, waving people through the secret corridor beyond.

Only when they were finally on the far side did they stop for a breath. Nanoha and Fate were in better shape so they watched the corridor while the other four recovered. "We lost him," Nanoha said confidently.

Fate dismissed her barrier jacket and her device. "I agree."

"What was with that crazy outfit?" Ron asked.

"It helps me move faster," Fate said by way of explanation.

"Wicked," Ron said, though he sounded more confused than admiring.

"What's this?" a voice cackled.

"Peeves," Harry hissed angrily. The poltergeist appeared just overhead, cackling down at them.

"Students out of bed? Oh yes this is fun. I should tell Filch!"

"Are you sure that's necessary?" Nanoha asked, walking out of the secret passage and smiling happily at Peeves.

The poltergeist flew back about five feet. "Miss Takamachi! Yes ma'am! I mean no ma'am! Filch won't hear a thing from me about this, ma'am! I hope you enjoy your stroll, ma'am!"

Nanoha's smile didn't fade in the slightest. "Please, my friends call me Nanoha."

Peeves made a wordless noise of utter terror and vanished.

Nanoha shrugged and glanced around. Harry was giving her a confused look, Hermione like she was trying to figure out a puzzle, Ron and Neville were just shocked, and Fate was trying very hard not to laugh. "What?" Nanoha asked. "I like making friends."

Fate lost her battle against laughing.

Hermione sniffed imperiously. "Well, if that's all I need to drag these three back to bed before they have any more ideas to get us killed. Or worse, expelled."

Nanoha and Fate watched the older girl lead the Gryffindors away and looked at eachother. "Expelled is worse than killed?" Nanoha asked.

"She needs to work on her priorities," Fate agreed.

"If Filch is still around the trophy room we'll need to find a different way back to the tower," Fate said.

"OK, then I think…where are we anyway?"

Fate looked around and pointed at a door at the end of the corridor. "That way."

The door turned out to be locked, but Nanoha had an idea. She put her finger to the lock. "Divine shooter," she whispered. The interior of the lock glowed pink and with a few noises of distressed, smashed, and blasted metal the door unlocked. Nanoha lifted the latch easily and swung the door open. "That was easy." She smiled at Fate as she walked inside and then turned to look where she was going.

Which is how the White Devil came nose to nose with Fluffy. And, naturally, she reacted as any self respecting ten year old reacts when faced with utterly unexpected and immediate mortal peril.

Nanoha pointed at one head. "AAAAAAAH!"

"RAAAAWR!"

Fate pointed at a second head. "AAAAAAAH!"

"RAAAAAWR!"

They both looked at the third head and decided that running was better than screaming. They scrambled out the door and slammed it shut. It latched, even though it didn't lock. "Think we're safe?" Fate whispered as the giant dog did a much better job of bashing a door than Filch had.

"No," Nanoha said. She grabbed Fate and ran down the corridor. "Back to the trophy room. Better than dead, right?"

Fate nodded. "Better than dead."

Filch was long gone when they made their way back to the trophy room, and the two walked back to Ravenclaw Tower.

Fate broke the silence. "What do you think it was guarding?"

Nanoha glanced at her friend. "The trap door?"

Fate nodded. "The trap door."

"Not a clue."

"Me either," Fate agreed.

Silence claimed them again until they were at the common room.

"Think Arf is going to be mad?" Nanoha asked.

"Let's not tell her about the dog."

"What dog?"

Fate winced and turned around to face the new voice. "Hi, Arf."

The familiar was not amused. "Fate…"

Fate sweatdropped. "It, uh, was Nanoha's idea?"

* * *

-OMAKE, Fourth year-

"The Hogwarts Champion is," Dumbledore called loudly, snatching the flaming letter from the air. He looked at the name and frowned. "Nanoha Takamachi," he quoted, "the White Devil."

"Eh?" Fate asked, surprised. She turned to look at Nanoha, who was frozen stiff from shock. All around, people were staring at the little girl, who was still eye-to-eye with some of the second years.

"Nanoha Takamachi!" Dumbledore repeated, louder.

"She's a cheat!" one voice rang out.

Dumbledore stared at the named girl as she came up, a concerned expression on her face. "I do not think so," he said to the nameless voice. "Miss Takamachi has never used that alias herself. Others, however…" he stared out over the gathered students. "Who here added Miss Takamachi's name to the Goblet?" he demanded.

Slowly, a seventh year raised his hand, from House Slytherin. Another Slytherin raised his hand. Within a minute, the oldest students of the House of Ambition all had their hands raised.

"Explain yourselves," Karkaroff demanded.

"We wanted Hogwarts to win," one of the boys said. "And we're not afraid to cheat. Her name's been called, so it's done, right? No turning back?"

"You wanted to win, so you set this little slip o' a girl against us?" one of the Beauxbatons jeered.

Nanoha's eye twitched once and she turned to smile at Dumbledore. "Professor, I am willing to compete in this tournament. Sir."

Dumbledore looked at the angelic smile and felt the urge to pray that none of the challenges turned into duels…for their guests' sake.


	7. Trials and Trolls

Chapter 7: Trials and Trolls

"Up!" Nanoha called. The broom on the ground floated up rapidly and smoothly slipped into her left hand.

Looking around, Nanoha noticed only she and Fate had called their brooms their first try. Almost everyone had it by three, though, although one poor Hufflepuff girl got so excited she sounded like a chipmunk on an energy drink, chattering "up" so many times her poor broom got confused and jumped up above her head.

"Now that you have a hold of your brooms," Hooch instructed sternly, "you need to mount it."

Nanoha swung her leg over the broom and got what she thought was a firm grip on the handle, but Madam Hooch forced her to push her center of gravity forward. "If you can feel bristles on your backside you'll never stay balanced," she called loudly as she pushed the broom down further between Nanoha's legs. Nanoha gave a slight blush in response but Hooch was going through the entire line of students correcting grips and yelling hints. A boy from Ravenclaw lost their house two points for mimicking the signature position of a quidditch player out of Iceland that would quickly dislocate the hips of anyone that didn't have the man's artificial leg.

"Okay," Hooch growled, "now that you have a firm and _proper_ grip on your brooms I want you to kick off, hover for a foot or two, then come back down."

Nanoha looked over at Fate and took a quick breath. She didn't dare break her grip and attract Hooch's ire, but she so wanted to give Raising Heart a rub just to assure herself that her safety net was still there. She'd never been afraid of flying, but with Raising Heart it was instinctual, like she'd known how to do it all her life and just needed the practice to reach the sky she loved. The broom she sat on now, however, was _other_. Taking another breath, Nanoha kicked off from the ground and felt the broom take her weight.

Fate nodded at Nanoha as the girl rallied her courage, then turned her attention to her own broom. She had Bardiche sewn onto the back of her glove, so she gave the device a rub for luck and kicked off. The ground below her fell away, only a couple feet or so, and she tightened her grip reflexively. Alyssia hadn't flown much, but she, Fate, had been flying nearly as long as she'd been walking. The pressure on her hands and between her legs, the broom holding her up, it was all quite foreign and could become uncomfortable after a while, although she supposed an unenchanted piece of wood would be a great deal more so. She checked her balance and looked around.

Nanoha caught Fate's eye and she smiled shakily. They were hovering about three feet up, and they weren't alone. About a third of the class had managed the feat, with another third that were hovering but still so low that they could just put their feet back down. The rest were either jumping in place, trying to get airborne, or had managed to fall one way or another and were in various stages of recovery. No one had duplicated Longbottom's infamous fall of the other day, however.

"Very good," Hooch praised, and proceeded to award a point to everyone over two feet up. They repeated the exercise several times, until everyone had managed to hold position above the ground. Hooch ordered them to land and waved her wand briefly. A pair of poles rose from the ground about fifty meters away.

"Your next task is flying in a straight line," Hooch explained. "Students will form two lines and fly from here to the far post. Remember to fly low and slow, nothing fancy."

Nanoha and Fate arranged to fly together, of course, carefully positioning themselves in the two lines. They ended up about in the middle of the pack, and witnessed more than a few disastrous examples of magical flight. Two girls collided, a Ravenclaw boy managed to land handle first and rolled head over heels into the goal post, and a Hufflepuff who loudly claimed he knew what he was doing managed to set his broom in reverse and nearly ran Madam Hooch over.

By the time the mages mounted up, Hooch looked rather worse for wear, but she was still pushing them through sheer determination. "Alright Miss Takamachi, Miss Harlaown, it's your turn."

Nanoha nodded and turned to her broom. She kicked off and hovered a bit, then shifted her grip and leaned forward to tell the broom to accelerate. The broom moved smoothly, picking up speed. Nanoha saw Fate alongside out of the corner of her eye, a serious expression on her face.

Nanoha smiled a bit. The broom was barely draining her mana at all, even accounting for their low speed. She could probably maintain flight for…well a lot longer than the need for sleep would let her, at any rate. She risked a look over at Fate. "What do you think?" she asked.

Fate shrugged and quickly regretted it as the motion had her broom pull up and then level off, putting her about a foot higher than she wanted. "It's a pretty light drain," she called back, "but I wouldn't want to fight like this."

"If Cho's right about quidditch, flying one-handed can't be too hard," Nanoha said.

Fate nodded. "That's true, but I think Hooch would yell if we tried now."

Nanoha laughed and passed the goal posts, Fate a bit behind her. "I think I'll settle for landing safely," she said, coaxing her broom to stop and then dismounting. Fate was right behind her, and they cleared out for the next pair to come in.

Fate and Nanoha both got a point, as did several others, for managing the flight without any problems. The next exercise was flying in a circle, then safely changing altitude in flight, turning in place, and other progressively harder exercises. Each time Nanoha and Fate were at the top of the class, being among the halfdozen or so that managed to execute an exercise right the first time. They didn't really stand out until Hooch noted that they were the only ones who were getting points with each exercise. She had them stay after.

"I thought you had never been flying before," she said to them as the class broke up.

Nanoha and Fate traded looks. "Well, never on brooms," Nanoha said.

"Carpets?" Hooch asked, remembering they were from Japan.

"Er, no," Fate said, looking down. "Actually, we don't need anything but a device to fly."

"Really?" Hooch asked. "What kind of device?" She blinked. "Wait, isn't that what you called your staves?"

Nanoha nodded. "That's right."

"Could you show me?" Hooch asked, almost eagerly.

Fate frowned. "It's a little…flashier than anything we've really let anyone see," she admitted, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Watching the professors cast spells often with nothing more than a flick of a want, no flash of light or incantation, had made her a little self-conscious about the MidChildan style's reliance on high energy discharges that lit up the sky when cast.

Nanoha snapped her fingers. "Oh, I know!" She looked towards the castle. [Arf? Can you come down here quick? Madam Hooch would like to see how we fly and you don't need to activate your jacket like we have to.] The familiar's normal outfit was a barrier jacket so it could transform with her when she took her animal form.

[Sure,] Arf sent. [On my way.]

Hooch looked to Nanoha and frowned. "What do you know, Miss Takamachi?"

Nanoha pointed a bit away from the castle. "Arf isn't as flashy as Fate and me."

Hooch followed the gesture and squinted. There was something in the air, and as it got closer she saw it was the wolf-girl that had interrupted her last class. She was, as far as Hooch could tell, simply and impossibly flying, without anything holding her up at all. "Only a few wizards have ever managed to fly unaided," she said softly. "It is a fiendishly difficult spell."

"For us it's a matter of talent," Nanoha explained. "Only one mage in a hundred or so can control herself in the air that well. Fate, Arf, and myself all have that talent."

"And those that lack the talent?" Hooch asked.

"They're pretty much ground bound," Nanoha explained.

Arf landed down gently. "Was that okay?" she asked Nanoha.

"Just fine, Arf," Nanoha said.

"Yes, a most fascinating demonstration," Hooch agreed. "And you can both perform something similar?"

Arf laughed. "Sometimes I think Nanoha was born in the sky. Fate's faster and nimbler, but I've never seen anyone so at home in the open air as Nanoha."

Nanoha blushed. "Arf…" she pouted in protest. Fate giggled at the expression.

"Very impressive," Hooch said. "Thank you for the demonstration."

Fate turned her smile to Hooch. "You're very welcome," she said, slipping her arm into Nanoha's. "Come on, Nanoha, let's get going. Potions, remember?"

"R-right," Nanoha said, getting her blush under control as Fate led her off.

Arf just shook her head and chuckled. "That's my master," she said with amused pride.

* * *

Potions continued to be a bizarre experience to the two girls. They were assigned to brew a cleansing agent – a watery fluid that performed any number of valuable tasks in the hands of Argus Filch, or whomever was serving detention with him. Nanoha decided to slice the snake skins into strips rather than mince them, and then let the powdered giant tooth coagulate around the skins for easier straining. The improvisation earned them five points from Professor Snape, while at the same time Fate's question about the third line – add two turtle eggs and brew until chartreuse – was met with scorn because she didn't know what chartreuse was.

"I just don't get him," Fate complained as they left the dungeon.

"None of us do," a Hufflepuff girl said, walking up behind them. Susan, Nanoha though. Susan Bones. Snape docked her a couple points for splashing her potion when she strained out the minced snake skin. "Snape favors the Slytherins, never says a kind word to anyone else. So what did you do, Nanoha?"

Nanoha blinked, completely befuddled. "I didn't do anything," she whined. "Professor Snape isn't all that bad, just a bit…" she struggled to find the right word. She sent a telepathic pulse to Raising Heart, not a proper phrase so much as a wordless cry for help. The device promptly found the right word out of its English training package: "Severe," Nanoha finished. "He's just a bit severe."

Now it was everyone else's turn to stare at Nanoha in utter confusion. "He's the meanest professor in the school," Padma quaked, looking around nervously as if the thin man would just materialize out of the shadows.

Nanoha shrugged helplessly. "I think McGonnagal is more strict," she said. The conversation quickly lost its incredulous overtones as the students fell into the more comfortable territory of just comparing their teachers rather than trying to understand them.

* * *

The week went by quickly. Nanoha and Fate made a report to Captain Lacrosse, but for the most part they were able to live as the ten year old girls they were. Nanoha in particular enjoyed how open she could be with magic. Back home she found secluded parks and quiet hours, but here not only didn't she need to worry about who saw her, she could practice with Fate and Arf with a full audience and not worry about anything other than making a fool out of herself. Of course, she hadn't exactly been planning an audience.

True to his word, Dumbledore had scheduled a few irregular meetings. In his office they had discussed the TSAB – briefly. The canny old wizard had pretty much laid out his deductions that the girls were observing Wizarding Britain as much as he was observing them, and that they were reporting back to a superior in the Bureau. Nanoha and Fate, unused to any kind of subterfuge beyond hiding their magical talents, didn't even try to deny it. Lacrosse himself would be meeting with Dumbledore the next week for a handshake and a few key questions from him in his capacity as Supreme Mugwump, questions that a pair of girls really shouldn't be the ones answering.

Dumbledore also questioned the girls more about their magic with Professor Vector, the Arithmancy teacher. It didn't take long to realize that while the girls were magical prodigies and mathematical savants, their understanding was intuitive. They didn't have the vocabulary or grasp of underlying theory needed to properly answer many questions about how their magic work. So instead, Nanoha had suggested a demonstration.

Dumbledore hadn't expected that demonstration to be a duel. Nor had he expected it to take place in three dimensions.

Preparing for their demonstration was surprisingly physical, as far as wizards were concerned. A wizard getting ready to duel might meditate, review spells, maybe work out some cramped muscles. The mage girls, however, changed into muggle clothing and performed stretches and other physical exercise that would have ripped their robes and built up a light sweat. The first students to watch gathered at this stage, most of them older Slytherins who jeered at the muggleborns, although none of them were so foolish as to call them mudbloods in the presence of professors. Not even Snape would let a student get away with that, Slytherin or not, and more to the point Dumbledore was the one paying closest attention. The old man was not known to get angry at his students, but his legend was more than enough to cow even the loudest mouth.

Nanoha blocked out the growing crowd and turned her eyes on Fate. Her favorite blonde looked stunning with her hair in mild disarray, her eyes shining from the light exercise. Those shining red eyes scanned Nanoha's body and then locked with her own. The girls smiled and, without a word, reached for their devices.

"Raising Heart!"

"Stand by, ready."

"Bardiche!"

"Get set."

The Slytherins shifted uncomfortably and murmured to eachother at the mechanical, but undeniably magical voices. Nanoha and Fate started glowing pink and gold, sending even more whispers through the crowd, which doubled in seconds as students came over to see what the light was.

Harry and Ron were two of these, and they gave eachother startled looks. They'd seen some of Nanoha and Fate's devices on the train, but not since. Harry bit his lip nervously and looked back at his two friends, eager to see more magic, magic that he had learned was very different from what most wizards performed.

Fate glanced at Harry out of the corner of her eye and smiled slightly wider. She wanted to save the older boy, the same way Nanoha had saved her, but her hands were tied unless he asked. Not much chance of that. Who asks a little girl for help with abusive relatives? So she'd show him what she could do, what they could do, and hope he came to them. Her eyes locked on Nanoha again.

"Set up!" the two girls cried at once. The magic around them solidified and hugged their bodies, forming their barrier jackets. Their devices formed around their standby forms, mechanisms and circuits falling into place. The formless glow took shape at their feet, a pair of Midchildan circles.

"Whoa," Ron choked, staring at the newly dressed girls. "That's cool."

"You'd think so," a slimy voice sneered behind him. Malfoy elbowed his way past, getting a better look. Crabbe and Goyle shoved Harry and Ron to the side, making room for all three of them. Malfoy didn't bother to look at them. "What kind of ridiculous getups are those anyway? Some kind of muggle wear?"

Nanoha and Fate set against eachother in light combat poses, ignoring the mutterings of the crowd. A massive orange circle flared under them; Arf was catching them in a barrier to make sure they didn't do too much damage. "That's as strong as I can get it," she called over to the two girls.

Nanoha probed the barrier with a flicker of power. Not as strong as Yuuno's, of course. "That'll do, Arf. Thanks. We'll just have to hold back a bit."

Fate nodded. "Right. Ready for me, Nanoha?"

"I'm always ready for you, Fate," Nanoha shot back, teasingly.

Fate smiled and might have blushed, but she had vanished before the expression registered.

Nanoha couldn't match Fate's speed, but she could certainly follow it with her eyes. Raising Heart came up and behind her head, catching Fate's kick on the staff. The blonde flipped away quickly and Nanoha spun, leveling Raising Heart in front of her and firing off a halfdozen bullets. "Axel shooter!"

"Defenser," Bardiche answered, catching two bullets on a golden dome. Fate shot into the sky over the other four, which came at her from the sides and chased her upwards, spiraling around eachother like a screw.

Nanoha grinned evilly and launched four more seekers at Fate. "Shoot!"

Fate lifted Bardiche above her head. The device chuffed a bit of smoke and ejected a cartridge. "Haken," it announced, snapping open as a familiar scythe blade exploded from the axe head.

Harry and Ron stared while Crabbe went pale, remembering how that axe head had cracked his knuckles on the train. He'd comforted himself that it wasn't that sharp, so he'd be ready next time.

"Haken saber!" Fate called, flinging the scythe forward and sending the crescent blade spinning through the seeking bullets, shredding them.

Crabbe was _not_ comforted anymore.

Nanoha raised a hand. "Round shield," Raising Heart called. The increasingly familiar Mid circle formed at Nanoha's hand and expanded to protect her entire form. The Haken saber impacted and sparks flew as it spun, slashing futilely at the shield. Nanoha shifted her weight and pushed upwards, adjusting the shield and sending the saber on a ricochet back to Fate, who in turn simply dodged the reflected attack.

McGonnagal hurried up behind Dumbledore. "Albus," she called worriedly. "What is this commotion?"

"Just a demonstration, Minerva," Dumbledore said calmly.

McGonnagal watched in silence as Nanoha launched herself into the sky to avoid four daggers of electrified magic, then responded with twice as many pink spheres of energy. Fate charged Nanoha, who danced away and brought her staff around to strike at Fate's back, only to hit a tiny yellow dome of magic that rippled from the hit, but neither bent nor broke. "A demonstration?" she asked finally, disbelief in her quiet voice. "It looks more like a duel."

"I believe they prefer the term 'spar,' actually," Dumbledore said mildly.

With the two mages in close quarters, neither sent any more magical attacks at eachother. Staff and scythe met, but the two were evenly matched for about twenty seconds. Then Fate stopped suddenly, her left ankle encased in a pink ring. "A bind!?" her voice echoed in shock as she stared at the weak hold on her foot. She'd already half broken it…a pink glow from behind her told her it was too late.

"Buster mode," Raising Heart announced, "drive ignition." A puff of smoke announced one cartridge loaded.

Fate turned to see a dangerous buildup of magical power at the tip of Nanoha's spear-like device.

"Divine," Nanoha called, dragging the word out threateningly.

Knowing she had bare seconds, if that, Fate hastily threw up her shields. Round shield to redirect the brunt of it, defenser behind that so anything that got through would just slide off. She just barely had time to break the bind on her ankle.

"Buster!" Nanoha screamed, letting loose her assault. Fate took the hit dead on, her defenses holding for a few seconds under the stream of power. Her barrier jacket ripped as the forces pushing at her exceeded even their limit. Even so, Fate smiled and let her shield fail to the right while she dodged to the left.

Nanoha felt a moment of surprise when her buster broke through Fate's shield. _Did I overdo it a bit? _she wondered. She wasn't worried about Fate; as long as she wasn't in Sonic form a buster that strong wouldn't do too much damage.

Bardiche's axe head, without Haken's scythe, smacked some reality into the side of Nanoha's head and sent the girl tumbling through the air.

The growing crowd winced at the blow. Harry frowned at the cheap shot; Fate didn't seem the type to be so…dirty in her fighting. Malfoy smiled slightly, the silly mudblood got what was coming to her. It occurred to him that he had never asked Harlaown if her family was wizarding.

Professor Flitwick was not thrilled by the unsportsmanlike behavior, but he knew good strategy when he saw it. He was more concerned with what was going on. "Albus," he squeaked. "Albus, what in Merlin's name is going on?"

"It is all right, Filius," Dumbledore said with a calm certainty that he didn't feel. "I asked Miss Takamachi and Miss Harlaown to demonstrate their magic, and they seem to have taken the opportunity to its fullest."

Flitwick looked at the ground below the combatants. Nanoha's buster had broken through Arf's shield and gone on to dig a meter-wide hole deeper than Flitwick was tall. "If nothing else, I hope that's their fullest," the short man muttered.

"Zenryoku zenkai!"

"Apparently not," Dumbledore noted.

Nanoha had caught Fate in close range while the blonde was aiming for Nanoha's sides. With Raising Heart pointed directly at her midsection, Fate vanished in a torrent of pink friendship doombeam and fell out of the sky the moment the buster cut off. Nanoha swooped down and gently caught the blonde, already blushing at her defeat. "Not bad for a low powered spar," Nanoha said cheerfully. She landed but didn't let Fate go.

Fate squirmed a bit. "I think you overdid the power, Nanoha," she accused gently.

Nanoha closed her eyes and chuckled sheepishly. "Nya-hah, you think so?"

Arf dropped the barrier and coughed loudly, drawing the girl's attention to the approaching professors. Minerva, Flitwick, and Vector all turned their attention to the hole in the ground, while Dumbledore merely smiled at the girls. "That was an enlightening demonstration," he said softly. "I did not expect something so grand from a simple spar, however."

"Battle maniacs," Arf grumbled. She shook her head helplessly. "They saw a chance to get a solid workout and took it."

Nanoha pouted. "We aren't that bad," she whined.

"Yes you are," Arf shot back, undaunted by Nanoha's complaint.

Nanoha pouted. "It's just a little hole," she tried.

Dumbledore merely smiled. "Do you usually fly in spars?" he asked instead.

Fate blinked at the sudden change in topic and nodded. "It opens up a lot of options that way," she said. "Especially in a narrow barrier like Arf had us in."

Dumbledore nodded and watched Flitwick repair the grounds with a few careful flicks of his wand. "Very good. Well, I am still disappointed that you went beyond the simple demonstration, but you did well regardless. I award five points to each of you. Now, off you go."

Nanoha and Fate shared brilliant smiles, not bothering to wonder what the award could have been if they hadn't gone overboard, and ran off to the castle.

Arf shook her head at the departing girls and followed with a chuckle.

Dumbledore headed back to his office, but not before waving over Professor Vector. "Walk with me, please," he said softly.

Vector answered the unspoken question as soon as they were alone. "I can certainly see why they'd confuse their circles with high degree fractals," she said quickly. "It's a poor, imprecise description, but its important properties fit so that it's close enough to make use of that way. These girls didn't invent it on their own, that's for sure."

"You're saying they were taught all these spells?" Dumbledore asked.

"Not at all, each one was an original creation if I were to guess. And it's more than that. You saw Nanoha's 'axel shooter' yes?"

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "The bullets were controlled by her will, rather than merely seeking. An impressive feat of mental discipline, even for a Ravenclaw."

"It was more than that, Albus," Vector said seriously. "Some of the bullets were faster than others, some impacted with greater force, some favored spirals while others charged in straight lines. The characteristics of each shot were individualized, on the fly, during casting."

"This is part of their mathematical system of casting?" Dumbledore asked.

Vector nodded. "It's one of the key strengths of arithmancy. Once you understand the equations that build a ritual, you can change it to suit your whims by simply adjusting the variables. That flexibility is built into the system. These girls simply speed up the process into one useful for general and high-pressure spellcasting."

"Septima, arithmantic equations can take days to fully work out," Dumbledore observed. "That kind of speed is not human." He smiled slightly. "Ah, of course. Their devices."

"Professors Burbage and Quirrel have both explained the muggle machines called 'calculators' that my muggleborn students are so fond of lamenting," Vector added wryly. "If half their claims are to be believed, the muggles could perform arithmantic equations in minutes. Yes, Albus, those girls' staves are undoubtedly very potent tools. Wand, 'calculator,' and apparently something like a familiar all in one."

Dumbledore nodded knowingly. "You want one."

Vector offered a sheepish grin. "After that display, half the school wants one," she observed.

* * *

Vector's prediction was frighteningly accurate. All of Ravenclaw house wanted to know everything they could about magecraft and devices. Nanoha and Fate submitted a request for instructions to Captain Lacrosse within an hour of their spar.

The wisened old diplomat established a policy of honest secrecy. Nanoha and Fate could answer whatever they wanted about their own experiences, but were not to reveal the existence of the TSAB ship in lunar orbit, their mission as observers, or the fact that magecraft was extra-terrestrial. These omissions led the already secretive wizards to assume that mages were yet another secret society, very small and local to Japan, which was rejoining the magical world.

Nanoha and Fate had no problems with those conclusions. They did, however, have issues with those of other Houses. Hufflepuff didn't really put forward a unified position, but it became a hobby of every Gryffindor to compare the Ravenclaw mages against the Gryffindor Boy Who Lived. None of the children subjected to such comparisons were terribly pleased with _that_ kind of attention, although it did push Harry and Ron together with Nanoha and Fate.

As for Slytherin, they were the first to observe that the only visible effect of the spar was the damage Fate and Nanoha caused eachother and the hole Nanoha dug. It took the Slytherin seventh years less than an hour to publicize a list of simple charms that could put on a show like that…although they couldn't explain the flying. And even if they had been right, for first years to put together such a display would require they actually know and cast those spells flawlessly and silently; an impressive feat in its own right.

Naturally, it was the flying that attracted the Ravenclaw quidditch team. When Nanoha and Fate returned to the common room that evening (the door asked them to explain the difference between levitation and summoning charms, which had taken quite a while to puzzle out) they were approached by Cho and a seventh year boy. Cho waved the girls over. "Nanoha, Fate! That was amazing, that fight you had."

Nanoha and Fate blushed. "Spar," Nanoha corrected. "We call it sparring."

"Spar, then," Cho waved off. "Why didn't you tell anyone you could fly like that?"

The seventh year cleared his throat. He was tall, not just in comparison to the younger children around him, but thin, almost streamlined. "The why doesn't matter," he said. "I'm Peter Oldroyd, quidditch captain. Cho tells me you want to try out."

"Did she?" Fate asked, eyeing Cho. "We said we'd think about it."

"Think faster," Pete said. "I thought she was bonkers for suggesting a pair of first years, probably swept along with that nonsense about Potter. But after seeing you fly, I want you on my team."

The comparisons against Harry were really getting old. Nanoha frowned at the older boy. "Without seeing what we can do?"

"I've seen enough to know you're better than most of the louts we had last year," Pete said. "Our best players graduated, and the only one left I'd consider worth a damn is Roger."

"There are other students that want to try out, though, aren't there?" Nanoha asked.

"Of course, but there's a reason they didn't make the team last year," Pete pointed out.

"Like being a first year?" Cho asked slyly.

Pete nodded. "Without brooms of their own, most first years can't keep pace with the game on a school broom. You two could keep pace without any broom at all."

"Would that be legal?" Fate asked.

"No," Cho said regretfully.

"But you have the flight experience other kids lack," Pete explained.

Fate and Nanoha traded a glance. "You're not going to let us go without trying out, are you?" Fate accused.

"No," Pete confessed shamelessly.

"Okay," Nanoha sighed. "When are tryouts?"

"Tomorrow."

* * *

"How can such a brilliant flyer be so clumsy?" Pete moaned. The tryouts had been a catastrophe. Fate and Nanoha had tried out for each position, since they didn't really have any quidditch experience.

The first trial had been for chasers. Pete played that position himself, and had taken on Roger Davies as expected, returning to the team from the previous year. The third-year was going to be Captain next year, he just knew it. Fate and Nanoha had, as expected, proven to be superior flyers more than capable of carrying a quaffle from one side of the pitch to the other, bludgers and other players not so much as slowing them down. But while Fate could nail a hoop from almost anywhere in the scoring area and had a knack for penalty shots, Nanoha didn't get a single goal, once doing so badly as to have the quaffle spin out of her fingers and fall behind her when she threw it.

Beater tryouts had managed to be worse. Fate hadn't shown the same control over a bludger that she did with the quaffle, while Nanoha was, at best, sporadic. If she hit the bludger, it went exactly where she wanted, at about twice the speed it had any right to be going. She had scored one bullseye so hard that the target had shattered. Out of five attempts, though, that had been the only time that she had actually hit the bludger. With such poor reliability, she'd be useless on offense or defense. Pete decided on two boys, Duncan and Jason, for their beaters.

Fate didn't bother with keeper tryouts, since her speed was her best trait and that would be wasted as a keeper. Nanoha made a valiant attempt, but while she managed to block as many shots as a boy named Grant Page, Grant had actually caught the balls while Nanoha just positioned herself to get hit by them. That was just fine with her barrier jacket, but they were afraid that would be ruled a foul. Grant was named keeper.

Only two girls were left for seeker tryouts: Nanoha and Cho. Pete was tearing his hair out when Nanoha admitted that she had known where the snitch was the whole time before Cho had managed to catch it, two minutes after it was released into a practice match with the new team against a few failed tryouts. "It's really hard to see," she said, "but all you have to do is keep track of it after it's released." It would take a lot more than thirteen broom riding players, three balls, and a roaring crowd to make the White Devil lose track of a target. A bludger to the head would do the trick, but Nanoha was used to a vastly more complicated threat environment than the quidditch pitch could provide.

"Then why didn't you catch it?" Pete demanded.

Nanoha shrugged and smiled. "Cho wants it more."

Pete ground his teeth and named Cho as seeker. She _was_ good, after all.

After the most frustrating tryout in the past century, Nanoha left the pitch with a smile and a spring in her step. With Harry, Fate, and Cho, she had three friends having fun with this strange sport. She didn't have a single reason to be upset.

* * *

Halloween was only a few days later, and the holiday took the two Japanese girls by surprise. The western holiday wasn't unknown in Japan, but it was little more than a reason for shops and such to put up a new style of decoration. At Hogwarts, it dominated everything the whole day long. Even the ghosts got in on it. Of course, that didn't stop classes.

"Now, remember the incantation," Professor Flitwick said. "_Wingardium leviosa_."

Nanoha looked at the feather in front of her. She knew a dozen ways to make something fly through the air as she willed; variations on the spells she'd used to fly, summon jewel shards to her for sealing, or control her shooter. The wizard spell, in contrast, was a whole and complete spell by itself, direct in application and limited in utility. She picked up her wand. "_Wingarudium leviosa_," she mangled.

The feather blew up.

Flitwick blinked in surprise and looked at Nanoha, smoking wand in hand, charred feather on her desk, and bewildered expression on her face. "Your accent is causing problems with your pronunciation, dear," he said, gesturing with his wand and repairing the damage, vanishing the smoke. "Mister Potter, could you help Miss Takamachi with her pronunciation please?"

"Yes, professor," Harry said, moving closer to Nanoha. With all the comparisons between them, the two were becoming friends simply by banding together against the unintended harassment.

Across the room, another of Harry's friends was having problems with his pronunciation. "_Wingardium leviosar!_" Swish swish swish grab.

"Stop." Hermione let go of Ron's arm and ignored his outraged expression. "You nearly put my eye out," she said crossly. "Besides, you're saying it wrong."

"Oh?" Ron sneered. "Let's see you do it, then. Go on."

Hermione rolled her eyes and enunciated clearly. Moments later, her feather was at the ceiling and five points were added to Gryffindor.

By the end of the lesson, Ron had managed to make his feather bounce a bit, Harry had gotten it up about a foot, Fate's had joined Hermione's (and five points for Ravenclaw), and Nanoha…had blown up her feather twice more before sending it flying into the ceiling so hard that it embedded itself and did not fall until Flitwick performed a summoning charm on it.

"Honestly, she's a nightmare," Ron grumbled as they left the classroom. "No wonder she hasn't got any friends."

Hermione was about to shove Ron aside and run off after hearing that when Nanoha spun around and slapped him, hard. The taller boy stumbled and nearly overbalanced onto the floor.

"Wha!?" Ron yelped, hand going to his cheek. He stared at Nanoha, a dark expression on her face, and his shock slowly turned to anger. "What are you on about!?"

"Apologize!" Nanoha snapped. She grabbed Ron and spun him around, showing him the very shocked Hermione, close enough that she had obviously heard every word.

"What?" Ron yelped again, head spinning. He hadn't said anything that terrible, so why was Nanoha?

He didn't have time to figure that out before Hermione shook her head and ran off.

Harry stared at Nanoha and looked at Fate, who was shaking her head sadly. "What was that?" he asked, subdued.

Fate sighed. "Hermione's lonely, Harry," she explained. "As Ron put it, she doesn't have any friends."

"She doesn't want any," Ron said hotly. "She just bosses everyone around."

"And that makes it okay to be mean to her?" Nanoha snapped, just as hotly.

"Mean!?" Ron exploded. "What about her then?"

Nanoha didn't really have an answer to that. The two stared eachother down silently instead.

Fate was impressed, not too many people could actually take Nanoha in full White Devil mode. Nanoha wasn't firing off a starlight breaker or anything, but her attitude was just as cold and merciless as if she was. Despite that, Ron wasn't backing down. She hooked her arm into Nanoha's and broke the moment. "Come on, Nanoha, we need to get back to the dorms and drop off our books before dinner." Nanoha let herself be taken away.

Ron watched the little girl go off and looked to Harry. "I didn't really say anything that terrible, did I?"

Harry didn't have a clue how to answer that. The Dursleys said worse about him several times a day, after all, so did Snape, but everyone else seemed to busy admiring him to be mean. "I dunno, Ron."

Ron thought it over and glanced at Nanoha. "That girl has a wicked arm on her," he said with a trace of admiration.

* * *

Dinner was about an hour later. Ron looked around the table and frowned. "Where's Hermione?"

Neville heard and leaned over. "One of the girls said she found her in the bathroom cryin'," he whispered.

Ron paled and looked back to his food, which suddenly didn't taste so good. Apparently he had crossed a line after all.

Harry saw his friend and smiled sympathetically. "We'd better find her after and apologize," he said.

Ron nodded, although he knew there was no reason for Harry to tag along. It would be a bit easier with him there, though. "Thanks," he said.

A table over, Fate was glowering at Nanoha. "Really, what were you thinking, Nanoha? What if a professor had seen? You want to lose us points?"

Nanoha poked at her food glumly. "No, I just…I mean he wasn't listening to what he was saying."

"There are better ways to get someone to listen than slapping them or blowing them up," Fate said sternly.

"Really?" Nanoha asked.

Fate choked on her cupcake, getting a bit of the orange icing on her nose. "Uh," she said, trying to think of a good example. She'd gone through all of Nanoha's friends and finally decided that no, the White Devil had visited them all. Fortunately, she never needed to answer.

"TROLL!"

Everyone turned to see Professor Quirrel run into the hall, screaming like a frightened banshee. "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" He got up to Dumbledore and gasped for breath. "Thought you ought to know." He passed out, collapsing bonelessly.

Stunned silence lasted about a heartbeat. Then everyone started screaming and talking at once.

Nanoha and Fate locked eyes and saw the battle-ready determination in eachother. They nodded once.

"**SILENCE!**" Dumbledore's voice resounded throughout the hall, loud and clear. Everyone stilled and turned their attention to Dumbledore. "Prefects will escort students to their dorms," Dumbledore continued in a calm voice that was just as strong as his earlier bellow. "Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

The prefects stood and herded the students out the doors.

Nanoha and Fate stood, but slipped away quickly. As soon as they were out of sight they summoned their barrier jackets and devices and made for the dungeons.

They didn't make it half a corridor before Flitwick appeared before them, a stern expression on his face. "And where are you going?"

"We can help," Fate said.

"Absolutely not," Flitwick said firmly. "I don't care what kind of magic you know, there's no way you're prepared to fight a troll."

"I've fought worse," Fate said calmly. Nanoha nodded.

Flitwick looked between the two of them. Teenagers were talented liars, young children could argue in circles with their simple logic, and he'd long developed the skills needed to maintain some control over both. "Do you even know what a troll is capable of?"

"Roughly three times the mass of a man, by English standards," Nanoha said quickly. "Highly resistant to most forms of stunning magic, fairly fast healers. Smarter than animals but still dumb. Related to giants."

"Afraid of fire," Fate added. "Often slow and clumsy. Highly aggressive."

Flitwick blinked. "Okay, so you know what a troll is," he admitted. Such a complete analysis would normally be worth a couple points. For now, he'd just avoid taking points from them for disobeying instructions and putting themselves in danger. "Even so, it's not your job to protect anyone. It's our job to protect you."

"But that is our job," Fate protested. "We're both part time mages."

Flitwick waved that off. He'd seen that argument coming ever since the girl that stopped a team of Obliviators enrolled as a student. "Whatever you are outside this school, right now you're students. Understand?"

"No," Nanoha said honestly. "If there's danger, how can we just stand by and do nothing when we know we can help?"

Flitwick shook his head. "Are you sure you aren't a Gryffindor?" he asked. He'd been a hat stall in his youth, torn between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, and he heard a lot of himself in Nanoha. A compromise was called for to satisfy them and get them out of harm's way. "If you want to help, go to the main stairs. The troll will have to go that way to get to any of the dorms." Not entirely true but it was the only way the troll could do so quickly enough to be dangerous. "I want you flying in the open where he can't possibly reach you. Got it?"

Nanoha smiled while Fate took an attention stance. "Yes, sir," the blonde mage snapped off with a proper salute. The TSAB training had taken to her a lot better than it had Nanoha.

Flitwick nodded to the two of them and watched them take off, their feet leaving the ground as they made use of their far superior flying speed. Satisfied that they were off the front lines of this crisis, he made his way to the dungeons.

Nanoha and Fate made their way to the stairs in record time and positioned themselves in the open tower shaft, surrounded by the trick staircases and gawking portraits…and one other spectator.

Professor Severous Snape scowled at the girls as they appeared. "What are you two doing here? Five points from,"

"Please, sir," Nanoha interrupted, "Professor Flitwick ordered us here to guard the stairs against the troll."

"Did he?" Snape asked, his customary sneer dropping as he looked Nanoha over. "Hmph, I suppose it is his right as your Head of House. No points, but if I find that you have lied to me it will be twenty!"

Fate wisely remained silent and just watched the professor climb the stairs. [He's going to the third floor,] she sent Nanoha. [To that horrible dog monster.]

[Really?] Nanoha asked, glancing at the departing professor. [I wonder if Professor Flitwick was wrong about the troll needing these stairs, then.]

[Report!] came a new voice.

[Captain Lacrosse!] Nanoha yelped. [Sorry, sir. Troll in the castle. The professors are hunting it down and we've been assigned as rear guard.]

Lacrosse was silent for a moment. [The database we have doesn't suggest that a troll could breach Hogwarts by itself,] he sent back. [The texts on the school's wards are somewhat vague on the exact details, but it's fairly clear that it would take a far more powerful effort than a lone troll is capable of, physically or intellectually.]

[You're saying that it's too stupid to find a way past the wards and too weak to power through them?] Fate asked.

[Right. Something's going on.]

[And Professor Snape is headed to that dog,] Fate mused darkly.

[Fate,] Nanoha protested. [Professor Snape isn't going to bring a troll into the school.]

[If you say so,] Fate sighed aloud, giving up that line of conversation. [But it sounds like someone did.]

Nanoha didn't like the sound of that, but she couldn't argue. [Maybe it's just a prank. Maybe there's no troll.]

They hovered there, alert, for another ten minutes before Flitwick came back, telling them Harry, Ron, and Hermione had found the troll in the girls' bathroom on the first floor, and had managed to knock it out.

"Thank goodness," Nanoha said, sending Lacrosse the update. "And they're not hurt?"

"They're a bit shaken up," Flitwick said, "but they're fine. Mister Weasley seems rather thrilled by his success." Like the Gryffindor he was, Flitwick added silently.

The mages sighed with relief and smiled easily. "So that's it? What will happen to the troll?"

"Professor Quirrel will deal with it," Flitwick said. "We need to find out how it got in the school, of course, and as the DADA professor that's his job." He clapped. "Anyway, excitement over, so bed with you both."

"Okay," the girls choroused and flew up the stairwell towards Ravenclaw Tower.

Flitwick nodded happily. Crisis averted, in more ways than one. He headed back to the bathroom. That kind of damage would be a bit much to ask poor Filch to fix on his own.


	8. Quidditch

Chapter 8: Quidditch

"And Slytherin scores, tying up the game at ten points apiece."

Nanoha clapped along with Fate and frowned as she looked around. "The cheering seemed louder for Gryffindor," she said.

Cho gave a thin smile. "No one really likes the Slytherin team," she confessed. "They've had a good few years and are being jerks about it."

"What about the Gryffindor team?"

"Weasley – Charlie Weasley that is – was a great Seeker, but he graduated last year. Even he couldn't keep up with the snakes, though. Oh, Flint's got the quaffle again."

"Thirty-ten to Slytherin," announcer Lee Jordan bellowed. "Get it together, Gryffindors!"

"How does the scoring go again?" Nanoha asked.

"Ten points for a ringer, that is getting the quaffle cleanly through a goal hoop, and a hundred fifty for catching the snitch," Peter Oldroyd, the Ravenclaw captain answered. "In a professional game, the quaffle goes through the hoops dozens of times. In a school match, you don't usually see a score above a hundred before one of the Seekers spots the snitch. Look there, see how Harry's flying?"

Nanoha did indeed see Harry move with sudden purpose. Before he'd been flying lazy circles above the action, now he was diving into the fray with all the bearing of a falcon after a mouse.

"Harry Potter has spotted the snitch! Terence Higgs is too far out of position, and look at that Nimbus fly! This is- I don't believe it!"

Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain, crashed into Harry and sent the smaller boy spinning, almost out of control. Hooch blew sharply on her whistle. "Foul on the Gryffindor seeker! Penalty shot for Gryffindor!"

Of course, while that was being handled, the snitch vanished back into the confusion.

"What just happened?" Fate asked.

"You're not allowed to hit a player that hard," Cho growled. "Flint cheated."

"Which is why Gryffindor is getting a penalty shot," Pete added.

"But if the snitch is worth one-fifty, wouldn't they have lost if Flint had done nothing?" Nanoha asked.

Cho blinked. "Well, yes."

"Then it wasn't cheating," Fate said.

"But he broke the rules," Cho objected.

"And took the penalty for it. Thirty-twenty to Slytherin, now," Fate pointed out. "A lot better than one-sixty to thirty, Gryffindor wins."

Pete looked Fate over. "It's still not very sportsmanlike," he pointed out.

Fate shrugged. "Playing dirty has risks, but it's still fair. The Slytherin team is good at handling those risks, right?"

Pete nodded slowly. "Come to think of it, yeah. The bloody bastards fouled Charlie ten times last year, and only one of the penalties got through." The seventh-year looked like he didn't know to be admiring or outraged. "The whole team is trained to counter penalties for playing dirty."

"Quite possibly," Fate agreed.

"Hey, what's happening to Harry?" Nanoha asked.

All eyes went to the Gryffindor chaser. He wasn't quite dancing in the air, it looked more like his broom was bucking like an untamed beast.

"Could that runin with Flint have done it?" Fate asked.

"I've seen worse flying from first years," Pete scoffed, but he sounded skeptical.

"From first years that could pull off a dive like that?" Cho challenged. "Look at him, he's not even in position to tell his broom to move at all! Something else is doing it."

Nanoha's eyes hardened. "If whatever it is doesn't stop, Harry could be killed. What can do that to a broom?"

"Broken enchantments," Pete said quickly.

"On a Nimbus only a few weeks old? No one's luck is that bad," Cho shot back. "Flying through some kind of ward?"

"None of the other brooms are having problems," Pete answered.

"So we can rule out anything environmental, too."

"Unless it's targeted on him," Fate realized. "What if the Slytherins really are cheating?"

Cho winced as Slytherin scored another ringer. "They're certainly taking advantage of the confusion," she agreed, "but this wouldn't be a simple curse. Undetectable and long-lasting means you'd have to keep your focus on the spell. Continuous eye contact, lots of muttered incantations."

"You mean like what Snape is doing?" Fate asked, pointing to the teachers' box.

Nanoha scowled. "Professor Snape wouldn't curse Harry's broom. He's mean, not homicidal."

"Have you heard how he goes after Potter though?" Cho asked. "If he thinks he can get away with it…and if he isn't casting a spell, I'm a flobberworm."

"Okay, so we stop him," Fate said. "If that doesn't work, plan B."

"What's plan B?" Cho asked.

Raising Heart flashed into Nanoha's hand. "Standby, ready."

"Plan B," Nanoha said, "is I go out there and grab him."

Fate nodded and ran to the back of the stands where she vaulted over the railing and vanished over the side, ignoring a few shouts of dismay at the usually suicidal jump. She caught herself three feet down and turned her fall into a glide, streaking off around the pitch and entering under the teachers' stands.

"Bloody hell! Where did you come from?"

Fate stared at a young, startled face under a mop of red hair. "Ron?" she asked. She ran up to him and dropped her voice to a whisper. "What are you doing here?"

"Harry's in trouble," Ron said. Fate shushed him and waved for him to keep his voice down. "I'm going to get one of the professors to save him."

"Bad idea," Fate said grimly. "Nanoha's ready to grab Harry if it gets that bad, but Snape's the one jinxing the broom in the first place."

"Snape?" Ron growled, dropping his own voice, finally. "Okay, then all we need to do is make him stop. Any ideas?"

Fate brandished her wand. "Nanoha and I have been focusing on charms that can disable rather than hurt. I think I've got one."

Ron smiled nastily and gestured grandly to Snake's legs, visible through the benches.

Fate nodded and held her wand out at the man's right foot. She took a deep breath and let it out along with a wisp of silver light from her wand. "Rictusempra."

The tickling charm did its work quickly and quietly, sending tingles all up Snape's leg. The potions master stumbled, his leg falling out from under him, and he flailed around to steady himself. Ultimately he ended up dragging Quirrel down with him in an undignified heap.

Ron muffled a laugh. "Brilliant."

Fate smiled slightly. "We'd better get out of here before we get into trouble."

"Yeah, but we need to talk about this later, right?" Ron asked. "I mean, this is really weird."

Fate thought that over. "After the match, the library?" she suggested.

"Make it Hagrid's," Ron said. "He wants to toast Harry's first win after the victory party in our common room."

"How do you know it'll be a victory party?" Fate asked.

"Harry Potter's caught the snitch!" Jordan's voice boomed out. "Gryffindor wins!"

Ron just smirked and ran out of the stands before the confusion ended.

Fate shook her head and made her own escape. Apparently Harry Potter was good.

Too bad they wouldn't face Gryffindor until the last match of the year.

* * *

Half an hour later, Nanoha, Fate, Harry, and Ron were gathered at Hagrid's modest hut.

Nanoha and Fate hadn't really been around the large man since their shopping trip through Diagon Alley before the start of term, so they started off sharing pleasantries. Hagrid turned out to be a wealth of information on magical animals and could list off from memory the habits of most of the creatures in and around the castle. For their part, Nanoha and Fate had little they could talk about other than lessons and the interesting bits of lore they'd picked up from learning wizardry alongside their own magecraft.

Eventually the conversation came around to Harry's broom. "Professor Snape?" Hagrid asked. "Why would he want to try and kill Harry?"

"I don't know," Fate confessed, "but are you saying a seventh year Ravenclaw can't tell when a spell is being cast?"

"Well of course Peter could tell," Hagrid said. "But mebbe Snape was just making his eyes better or sommat."

"And Harry's broom just happened to start working again when I stopped Snape?" Fate asked.

Hagrid just shook his head, although he looked troubled. "Look, it can't a been Professor Snape," he insisted. "Dumbledore trusts him, an' that's good enough."

"Does Professor Dumbledore know that Professor Snape tried to get past that three headed dog on Halloween?" Nanoha asked softly. It was the first time she'd really spoken out against Snape, but she stood by Fate and what they saw.

Hagrid blinked. "How'd you know about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?" Nanoha gaped. "Someone named that thing _Fluffy_?"

"She's mine," Hagrid said proudly. "Bought her off a Greek chap to guard the…I shouldn'ta told you that. No more questions!"

"The thing from Gringotts!" Harry yelled. "From vault 713!"

Hagrid's eyes danced from Gryffindor to Ravenclaw and back. "I dunno what you're talking about," he said nervously.

"Yes you do," Fate said calmly. "Go on, Harry. What's this vault?"

"It was really high security, but it only had a small dingy bag in it. Hagrid took it that day we all went shopping in Diagon Alley. After school started, the paper says someone broke into that same vault."

"And there was a trap door under…Fluffy," Nanoha said. "We figured she was guarding something."

"And you saw Snape try and get at it?" Ron asked. "Then that explains it. Snape broke into Gringots to steal…whatever it is. And he went after Harry…I dunno. We didn't know any of this."

"Snape just hates me," Harry said. "It's probably not connected at all, but if he's willing to risk killing me…" his voice trailed off and he confronted the idea that someone wanted him dead, right now. In a way it was a lot harder than knowing he'd almost been murdered before he could remember it. His scar itched at the thought.

"Then he's not planning on sticking around long enough to get caught," Nanoha said grimly.

"Yer not listening to me!" Hagrid roared. "Yer meddlin' in things that aught not ta be medled in! It's not Snape, forget about Fluffy, she's my responsibility, and forget about that thing she's guarding, that's between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel-"

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Nicholas Flamel?" Nanoha asked.

"I should not have told you that," Hagrid growled. "I should NOT have told you that."

Fate stared at Bardiche intently and sent a priority message to their support crew to start a deep database search for Flamel.

* * *

The next weeks progressed swiftly. They'd started on more complicated spells in Transfiguration, turning feathers into leaves. In Charms, they turned to charms that made water glasses ring at different pitches when struck. In DADA, Quirrel had them practicing the trip jinx, which was usually followed by a mass exodus to the infirmary for some bruise relieving ointment. In Potions, they were making bruise relieving ointment for the infirmary.

That Friday, Nanoha walked up to Professor Snape with a scroll in her hands, just before class. "Professor?" she asked timidly.

"What?" Snape asked. "Make it quick, I won't delay class for anyone, even you Miss Takamachi."

"Yes sir," Nanoha said, presenting the scroll. "I was going over what you said about the bruise ointment last class and had an idea."

Snape took the scroll and unfurled it. "You replaced the frog liver with the vitreous of a snake's eye? The reaction to the tubers will cause the potion to solidify into a useless lump."

"I think I can prevent that by adding the grass roots first while stirring counterclockwise," Nanoha suggested.

Snape looked over Nanoha's changes more carefully. "The roots first…that would react very badly with the frog but the snake eye wouldn't be tainted at all. However, your timing would be critical. Why make the recipe more difficult?"

"Well, sir, the snake eye is more suited to draining pressure. The potion will stop the swelling better than the book's recipe."

Snape nodded and thrust the scroll at Nanoha. "I am not convinced by clever words and theories, Miss Takamachi. While your classmates brew a proper bruise ointment, you will have a chance to show me if you really have any idea what you're talking about."

Nanoha took the scroll and went to her table. As she was setting up her cauldron, Snape cleared his throat. "Only a half-turn when adding the roots, Miss Takamachi," he snapped.

Nanoha smiled.

* * *

The second match of the quidditch season was, as usual, Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff. Fate found herself in the Ravenclaw locker room, looking over her broom. It was a Cleansweep Six, an outdated but reliable model. The broom had sat in storage so long that the price was slashed to a fraction of its value, despite the fact that it hadn't had a rider before Fate bought it.

Peter clapped Fate on the shoulder. "You alright there, Harlaown?"

Fate nodded. "Yeah, I guess," she said weakly. "I'm not sure I'll be any good, though."

"Don't worry about it," the seventh year said. "Level head, listen to the play, eye on the balls. Half of the Hufflepuff team is as green as you are."

Fate offered a ghost of a smile. "Hogwarts hasn't seen a student as young as me in how long?" she asked.

"Fair point," Peter chuckled. "So there's no pressure to meet expectations, right?"

Cho ran into the locker room. "Hufflepuff's just been called onto the field," she said.

Peter grinned. "Then we're next. Lads and ladies, line up and give 'em a show they won't soon forget."

Lee Jordan's voice boomed over the pitch. "And now, in blue and bronze your Ravenclaws! Averaging the youngest students of all the house teams, Captain Oldroyd has only one player left from last year's stellar team. I give you OLDROYD, DAVIS, HARLAOWN, SAMUELS, INGLEBEE, PAGE AND CHANG!"

As Jordan bellowed each name off, each player hopped on his broom and did a pace around the pitch, ending up in position on the Ravenclaw side of the field.

Fate stared wide-eyed at the cheering crowd as she flew her lap. Long experience at faster speeds than her broom could handle let her process important faces out of the crowd. The professors, proud but neutral. Flitwick, roaring his approval despite his tiny frame. The Slytherin team, snide but watching like hawks. Malfoy, just snide. Harry and the Gryffindor team, cheering but no less attentive than the Slytherins. Nanoha and Arf…who doubled their cheers when she flew by.

It was a good day to score some points.

The bludgers shot into the air and Fate's mind fell back into the old patterns of target awareness and evasion. She held in her mind a model of the pitch, each broom and ball a little blip flying around. Trajectories and probabilities suggested tactics which predicted the game a few seconds out which suggested new tactics…it was a way of thinking any tactician was familiar with, which sounded really complicated and impossible to do at the heat of the moment but all boiled down to intuition and training.

The snitch flew up next and Fate ignored it completely. Not her job.

Finally, Madam Hooch threw the quaffle into the air. Fate didn't hesitate, even though she was further away from the captains. While they jockeyed for position below the quaffle, Fate shot high to a point just below the peak of Hooch's throw and snatched the quaffle from above.

"And young Harlaown takes the quaffle for Ravenclaw!" Jordan yelled. "Fate Harlaown is the youngest player ever to play on a Hogwarts team and one of the youngest students ever to attend, making some question her placement on the house team. Of course, most of those people missed that fight last month."

"Jordan," McGonagall growled.

"Right you are, Professor. Harlaown's answered those questions by taking the quaffle almost down to the scoring zone. Preece and Applebee try to cut her off but look at that little girl fly!"

Fate didn't have anything remotely close to a clean shot so she dove, pushing her broom to its limits as she shot to the ground. As soon as she was clear of the Hufflepuff chasers she lobbed the quaffle off to her left and pulled hard, breaking her fall and leveling out about six feet above the ground.

"Harlaown pulls a feint worthy of a seeker to pass the quaffle to Davis. Davis spins and keeper Fleet is completely out of position on the left ring! First blood to Ravenclaw!"

Fate's heart rose along with her broomas she got ready to defend – the badgers had the quaffle now.

"Applebee has the quaffle and gestures to Preece. They don't look too happy, of course neither would I if a little girl made a fool out of me. Sorry, Professor. Preece with the quaffle, to Applebee again. Applebee flies high and oooh, a close call from a bludger and he drops the quaffle. Oldroyd grabs it out of freefall and Ravenclaw is in control again."

"Falling ladder!" Oldroyd yelled.

Fate spun her broom around its axis once, signaling she heard the play. Davis did the same. She had to get ready.

"And the Ravenclaw chasers are coming down the field, but Hufflepuff's slowing them down. Oldroyd passes up to Davis. And a pass up to Harlaown as Davis dodges a bludger of his own. Fate passes up again to Oldroyd, Hufflepuff looks to be making sure she doesn't dive again. Oldroyd to Davis again. Davis to Harlaown. Harlaown to Oldroyd…what are they doing up there? Oldroyd to…Davis misses his catch! He hits the quaffle and…HARLAOWN IS THERE!"

Fate grinned as the quaffle sailed over the heads of the Hufflepuff chasers and down right into her waitijng hands, where she popped it right into the goal.

"Ravenclaw leads twenty to zero. I've seen some trick plays before, but the eagles this year have style."

Their winning streak ended quickly. Hufflepuff didn't have the same knack for playing the angles with the quaffle, but the badgers knew how to stick together and hold a formation. They barreled down the pitch like a battering ram time and again, a tactically simple play that the Ravenclaws couldn't disrupt without a few well-placed bludgers, and the Hufflepuff beaters were hard to distract. The score rose steadily for both teams, with Ravenclaw leading 90-60.

"Is that the snitch?" Jordan called. Yes, the faint glint of gold was the snitch. Fate, still holding the quaffle and getting ready for a hook shot to score the hundredth point, froze in midair along with everyone else as Cho and Diggory charged the snitch. Fate ran the numbers in her head, what she knew about the brooms, Diggory's longer reach…she spun around and shot the quaffle through the hoop while the Hufflepuff keeper was still watching the seeker duel.

"And Harlaown scores, but Diggory takes the snitch! Hufflepuff wins 210 to 100, an astounding match for both teams!"

Fate turned around again and blushed slightly. Cho's hand was firmly wrapped around Diggory's, which was in turn wrapped around the snitch. She heard a laugh beside her and turned.

"Nice play at the end," the Hufflepuff keeper said. "Had to get that last shot, huh?"

Fate grinned sheepishly. "Might as well get as many points as we can, right?"

"Ha, and you taught me to keep my eye on the balls I should watch. Good match."

Fate flew back down to the Ravenclaw lockers where she got a few slaps on the back. The team was disappointed by the loss, sure, but they proved they could play.

Besides, it wasn't about the game. It was the season. And the season had only just begun.


End file.
